What After Love
by Inuyasha Cooks
Summary: Where does love exist in this tunnel vision place? Link, Sheik, and Zelda navigate the city night, trying to follow a hot heart's tracks. SheikXLink, ZeldaXLink; AU
1. Part 1: 1

_A/N_: The modern love story's a weird thing. This could be seen as an attempt to realize a modern love story, or an extension of the attack on it. Your call.

The setting is AU, modern times, but a modern Hyrule. It's a SheikXLinkXZelda triangle, meaning SheikXLink and LinkXZelda.

I know this is prolly going to get a lotta tl;dr, but hay, that's what writing is for, huh? On with the story.

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_Part One_

He had left the orphanage on a tip, a promise on the wind going to thef west, and he didn't have any other option than to follow it. At this point his direction was hanging out to dry. There was nothing else to do than go, and his feet were always moving forward. So he hopped a train out going west, underneath the looming dark of the night, the concrete structures, and the cheaply glowing white neon signs; slept part of the way there stretched out across the seats, and woke as a hint of powder blue started to charge into the sky. Arrived on the threshold of daybreak, into more glowing advertisements and changing lists naming places...but then stepped out of the round station and into the city night.

It looked almost surreally twisted, too dark and serious to be anything but a dream picture; everything tall and closed off. People were still bustling off the train, even at this time of night...the cool morning breezes were starting to breath up from summer, along the cobblestone to caress the faces of weary travelers...in the mystic glow, all the tall indifference, he looked about him and was knocked head-on by the dark starry feeling that the night air pressed at his back, thought for a moment that he was really in the right place. The buildings shot straight up from the concrete ground and looked with impassive frowns on the wide empty center of town; rain was dripping down from the metal awning, as though it was the only sound fit to echo.

He was bustled along by some people making their way past him, an old family of aunts and nieces with suitcases. He shrugged into his mind and knew that the first thing to do would be to get a place to sleep.

His body ached and along his limbs he could feel the buzzing hum asking for comfort; his stomach felt pale, sour, and empty. He let out a yawn between a billboard and the entrance to the station, and moseyed on along. An autumn breeze touched his skin and left wet droplets alive on the tremulous flesh, and his eyes were dark blue-green and starry swamp. Light cascaded onto his face as he wondered in awe along streets of coffee shops, all-night hamburger joints, record stores with flashing pictures of LPs, a bank-type place with big windows where the employees were cleaning up, winding down...White facades and the pale glow of buzzing light.

A group of people catcalled at him, but all he did was smile. Each step he took was like a meat hammer to his feet; fell with a heavy gravity, made it feel like the blood was rushing down. His mind whirled around what starry possibilities could be wrenched, twisted out of this purple half-night; spun him up in dreams so that he moved within a world of vivid dreams and hollow bodied aching.

The backstreets of the city winded and twirled through realms of impossibility. This was pretty damn near a maze...suddenly he began to feel a heated panic that he might not find someplace to sleep...the night breeze cycloned up and seemed to warn of the affirmative. He shivered.

Eventually, after wandering, half-assedly navigating the dark street corners, he came upon a building that stood apart from the rest of the city that was square and severe in light stone and concrete, semi-ornate iron gate and square shrubs as a testimony to straightness- also, a flag waving austere in the small breeze. A government resthouse...

They looked at him suspiciously, regarded him with that barely considering haughty look that clerks are wont to give. But they couldn't refuse him a room. He took his suitcase and shuffled into the room when a portly young man opened it for him- as if to say, "Here, take it, it's yours- for _tonight_..." He didn't have any mind to pay this man though. He just collapsed sideways on the bed.

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He took a quick shower in the morning. Washed off all that grittiness and grime, sweated off the blues of yesterday in the quickly pouring steam...didn't catch breakfast even though hunger was swallowing his mortal mind. Instead, he went to the front desk and asked where the public phones were, and set his mind on phoning his friend- the one who had referred him here, guided him to this strange city...

He finally got a hold of him after two consecutive tries. "Ah, hell-oh?" he answered, winded as though from a jog, hurried as though torn up from a busy day.

"-Hey hey!" (He said it like he was waking from a reverie, suddenly snapping up to cheer.)

"Link!? That you?"

"Yeah," he answered through a hoarse laugh- a laugh that could be noticed from miles away, silver edged and light..."What's, uhm, news?" he continued, shuffling his feet- feeling slightly uncomfortable in the big empty hall...the telephones were lined up against a wall in an empty marble-decked room, and the only other people were a stately lookin' man with a powerful mustache, and a nervously shuffling woman who gave Link the stink eye...every noise he made seemed to be an affront to some well-established law of humanity. He pulled his shirt collar nervously.

"Nuthin' much. How'd you get in? When, I mean?"

His voice was far away, static from another planet- small and metallic. "Uhm, just yesterday night. I went by train," he answered, trying to get into the swing- he peered past two telephones and saw this woman nervously sputtering, "If John takes his coat, if John takes his coat..." His friend was saying something, but he could barely listen to him- he was so far away, and besides, this woman was interesting...but then she looked up and caught Link stealing glances at her with casual slim eyes, and she gave him a death glare and pursed her lips. He laughed sunnily.

"...tonight- hey, watcha laughin' at?"

"Ah, nothing," Link answered, waving it off and mouthing "sorry" to the incensed woman. Her bird's eyes grew smaller and glittered black in indignation before she turned on a stamping heel. The radiosonic waves- colored electricity yellow- brought him back to his conversation.

"'Ah, nothing?' Awright then. Lissen you. There's a party tonight. You oughta come."

Link paused, looking off into the expanse of the room with curious eyes. "Oh, yeah?...Cool." They made quick arrangements; once the phone was hung up, Link was left solitary again- only to his thoughts and impressions. He swung his arms, walked out of the sunny room and tried to make sense back upstairs.

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The black night spun its starry fingers around him as he crossed the street, skipping along a half-jogging pace. The night seemed starless, but maybe it was just the contrast of the lights exploding all around him, humming low- the dimly glowing awnings, the blue party lights of cars spinning past him...a slight rain misted up from the street as tires passed him by. His friend ran up behind him, panting death. "Link! Christ, watch it when you cross!"

"Eh?" Link smiled, bemusedly- Link had never known a car that could run him down. His friend looked him over. Link didn't even seem to be _aware_ that a car could smash him.

He smiled, brought his arm up in a sweep and caught Link in a close headlock, his face brimming with affection. "Aw never mind, you lucky sonofabitch-"

"Owch hey lemme go!" Link laughed, tugging out of his friend's deathgrip. He brushed himself off, and they came to a door painted midnight black. The spots where the paint was chipped showed through bright orange-red- a red like copper blood. Link kicked his shoes along the gummy concrete steps, wondered what they were doing here- the door looked so big and ominous...

His friend knocked secretly on the door and Link pondered whether it wasn't some top-secret signal, some boyscout handshake given over only to the guards of a like perception. No matter- no questions were asked, and the door unlatched quickly (Link didn't notice that a little trapdoor in the middle had flipped up and two black eyes had peered through- too spun up in dreams).

The door opened and they were ushered in like schoolkids, with an almost urgent air. Off of the street and into warm lights- into a corridor that was lonely but painted like warmth, with antique sidetables in black lacquer and two cast-iron chairs. How weird. "Hey," said the non-person who had let them in, and just as noiselessly faded back into the unkown depths.

A motif of dreamy cherry trees and craning birds was fading into city brick above an archway that led into a stream of lights and crowded people. Everything seemed dusty black in this strange foreigner's highway. "Hey, watcha lookin' at? I know some girls here who are packin' it, so let's get on, man," his friend threw back to him, smiling wolfishly.

Link smiled back quickly and finished soaking in the feeling of the corridor to join him- two orphans moving into the world of maddening crowds, of connections and static.

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He couldn't figure out whether this was a house or just some place- it was weird. It looked sort of like a cross between a bar and a living room, not quite a lounge- it looked sort of public, but for the stinging obvious realization that everybody here knew each other- it was so blindingly apparent that Link felt awkward moving into the spaces between people. But there was enough space that you could sit like a shadow on the sidelines anyway.

Anyway, his friend had introduced him to some people- this wailing sad guy called Kamo who seemed to always be on the unfortunate precipice of knowledge, a guy whose face was warm and open, and a guy whose presence was thin as night air, couldn't even see him if you looked a certain way. They were part of the group now, or at least standing on its perimeter [/sidelines?]; Link tapped his feet lightly on the shining beer-colored floor.

There was black lacquer lining the bar, and the fixtures all seemed to be in the style of post-modernist bombings, the after-effects of the nuclear bomb shedding tears onto a city life- that kind of rusted, banged-up urban thing going on, juxtaposed to bright colors in primary vision. But there was such an atmosphere of stars in here, that Link wondered what all the drabness was about. Or maybe the stars were just in his head...he smiled at the thought, and to anyone looking at him, that smile was like a sweet death.

His eyes wandered- everybody here was close-knit as a sweater, and there was no way to breach the bonds. It seemed like everybody here was holding onto some kinda secret, didn't want anybody new to be let in on the big joke. Everybody was already part of somebody else, needed nobody new. One of those parties where everybody turns the mask on. This wasn't the Eden he was hoping for- maybe more like a secret garden- you needed a key, but it wasn't apparent where to find it...

Near to them (paces away, beyond the moving liquid barrier of people) was another group, hotter and closer strung than theirs that Link had noticed as his eyes had flicked around the room half-lazy: four or five guys, and maybe one girl who seemed like a movie extra tagged along for the parade, party to vanity. Something about the group flashed across a sharp-cutting message- maybe it was something in the eyes...there was one guy, strong and solid in build, who had a grin like a tomcat on the run and leading-man looks- who just kept smiling...a couple of others whose eyes were shaded, who had faces like blank canvas.

A guy was throwing up in an ice bucket, his face veiled by stringy hair (some of it caught in the upchuck...gross); standing by him, in the warm alcohol light, someone whose frame was like the night wreathed in blue smoke, laughing richly with his head tossed back, seemingly at the guy who was throwing up. Something in him releasing an energy that was...wild, a little manic, colors throwing off him in every different direction. Clothing like a child soldier, a look that was vital and sharp as death- but also warm, sweet...He was thin, slight, seemed to lean on invisible forces in the air- had a body that made you aware of curve and hip and bone, so slight in the flesh that you could make out the subtle, hungry lines of the fragile human frame...Real lean meat, love song and walking guitar- his hair was dark blonde and he had deep, rusty tanned skin; and when he flicked his head back down and his eyes caught onto Link's, Link saw his eyes were a dark red color, a lot like a scar or dried blood- but had this brighter sheen, a sheen of something loose that Link couldn't put his finger on. Then Link was surprised- there was this graying cloth covering the guy's face that he hadn't noticed before.

A thoughtful look came onto the guy's eyes, but then he just looked away, seeming to be able to look into the infinite space behind solid objects with ease. Link thought he looked interesting and shrugged it off, turned back to his group of loosely affiliated limbs.

They were talking bout something largely uninteresting, which was largely a yawn, and Link interrupted for a moment. "Hey, who's that guy?" he asked childishly, pointing uninhibitedly at the group.

"What? Who?" his friend asked, tentatively, craning his head to look past a chick in a sequin top. "Hey yeah, and don't point," he laughed.

"That one with the blonde hair, the- uhm shadow-" he laughed shortly- the group looked in a mass of confused heads- "Do you know him?" His voice was like a little kid's.

There was a short pause; his friend muttered something, trying to figure it out- and suddenly Kamo broke out with a drawn groan. They turned to him. "What?" one of the guys asked, with a slick smile, "You know him?"

Kamo shook his head as if in a dark despair. "No- that's Sheik," he answered, the breath in his voice oppressed by a huge blurred sentiment. He lifted his arm weakly to reach for his drink. "He's fucking crazy," he groaned again, "Don't get involved with him."

Link blinked blue in quiet confusion. "Crazy? What do you mean?" he answered, beginning to smile.

"He's just-..._crazy_," he answered, shaking his head with woe, like he was trying to shake off a bad memory. Link laughed and was about to say something- the whole group was on the verge of a laugh, for that matter- but he held his hand up as if to dismiss the matter, like a Roman consul. "I mean it- he's nuts. Totally off his rocker." He paused in a shade of chartreuse rue. "Don't say I never told you," he shrugged.

Link paused and thought about it, figured maybe he was exaggerating. His friend laughed. "Dude, you sound like you've been _involved_ or something," he offered in mirth.

Kamo shot up his eyes in a firm, fiery protest- but the rest of them were already hella ranking on him. The topic was spit back and forth with vehemence, but soon dropped into a black pit of dying laughter. "But hey yo, that chick with him is kinda hot..."

The conversation receded. Link caught another glance at the guy- Sheik. Something about him was pretty cool- something about him was like water, or maybe like dying ashes. He guessed it didn't really matter, though. He turned back inward, and when the night was over, it was back to tar and the faceless government resthouse, back to cool air and stars. Back to pondering lightly what he was going to do here.

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Sure, he had seen him- that new face who had been scanning over him before their eyes hooked. For a moment it was strange, and he noticed some kind of light in his perception, noticed that for a moment he was knocked back by a heavy, starry pink feeling.

He looked thoughtfully at him. Something about him was beat, weary angel down- something about him was drizzly and low. He paused and wondered why he looked that way- why he looked like ultrafox caught in between a world of light and darkness, why he looked like he carried such a burden on the crux of his tired shoulders. He looked like he could cut through twilight, looked like he could sweep past light and dark and go straight into the heart of the matter. He looked like he had a lot of heart.

He had never seen this kid before- blonde hair (the shade was more like _fucking_ blonde- a baby blonde shade, looked too delicate to touch) and slightly troubled blue eyes...a worried mouth, but that released a laugh that was light and made of some silver composition, possibly mercury or some other equally starry element. What did that laugh remind him of?

Later when he was alone, embraced thickly by darkness and angled shadows, having a cigarette beneath glowing red neon lights, he thought on the kid again. Definitely Angel Beat. He forgot about it soon, though, caught up with the wine night, went right back into the lights and the people that shaped his usual days.

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Lately Link was wondering just what he was doing here- what game he and everybody else was trying to play. He didn't _feel_ like he was getting anywhere. It had started off a high, windy day, clear and keen blue, but the wind got lower as the day went on- now, nearing pale yellow sunset, it was only stirring small hurricanes among dry brown leaves that hit the ground. Summer was slowly smoldering out, the end of the cigarette.

He ambled on. Everybody had money here. He was right next to broke-down poor. Everything seemed beyond his reach, and aside from this, there was nobody here who could make the days lighter. It seemed like there wasn't even a point to any of it- the days seemed to float by without character, pale and formless. There was nothing really going on with his friends- they passed by and passed out...there seemed to be something going on everywhere here, but it was all inaccessible- or he didn't have the keys.

He passed by the narrow backstreets, passed the quiet and the storm, and began to come on to the commercial roads- that wide circle in the middle of the city where the train station was, past that and into the market on the south side of town. A chill swept up from the gray streets, and the small wind picked up and spun the leaves. At least he had gotten to know his way around...

The market sounds played full on. There was no deep sunset-orange- only a misty yellow color mingled with twilight blue as the night began to ascend. The streetlamps lit in a synchronized succession down the road, and each one made a carnival glow into the medium blue sky. Something that was like stardust seemed to float down from the houses above the flower shops, above the fruitstands and the delis...It came down like liquid warmth and cast a sleepy feeling on the road.

...The road was thick with people. The crowd swelled and ebbed around him as he walked along. People were yelling, hawking back and forth, and everybody had that look on their face that they had something better to do when they got home- that look that you see on the shuffling afternoon commuters rushing for the train to go back. But he was feeling, low, real low, a buzzing in his heart that made his head feel lazy. He didn't really know what he wanted after all...

He shrugged into his jacket and noticed that even through the thick of the crowd there was an oasis somewhere- a spot that seemed unapproachable by magnetic force. It was like a clearing through the crowd. Curious, he stepped forward, pulled on the leash by the beckoning call, and made his way over to the clearing.

Were people avoiding this spot? It seemed so- not even passers-by were cutting through it, they were just going around. Monkey see, monkey do. The pale yellow light softened, melted like butter into the blue. The blue, now a lapis-lazuli, sparked by stray strands of electricity that whirled from the neon signs being turned on for tonight.

It was a fruit stand...nothing really special. Some chick tending it, standing bored as a painting. Thousands of little oranges shone like Christmas lights from the wood boxes organized lazily around. The air at once became softer and clearer to breath- not so hot down and sticky.

The only person there besides the black-haired chick was a lean figure whose balance was recorded in the air for reference. Small and lithe, slightly feminine- receding like a shadow back into the shapes and the sounds. The figure was looking at an orange with intense interest, as though it weighed the balance. Dark blonde hair...Link paused in his steps, surprised. Oh, he knew him- from that party, a week or two ago- what was his name...

There must have been a radar, because the guy sensed somebody within the five-foot clear that surrounded him. He turned slightly, the movement subtle and small, pivoting a little to get a clearer view. Link paused again like he'd stepped on a cat tail, but inhaled and exhaled a bit and then came forward again. The look in the guy's eyes was slightly illegible, but in the dark blood color Link noticed the spark of something vibrant; through the stranger expression, Link saw a hint of light.

He was closer and with one syllabic step remembered his name like a school lesson- Sheik! That was it. He noticed that Sheik still exuded that colorful energy, still held that same magnetic draw, could draw attention with the suspension of his hand. The crowd of cloth was still blocking his full face.

Now next to each other, Sheik turned his head considerately to Link and seemed to be waiting for him to go on. His gesture seemed to say that the orange was still an option though, if Link turned out to be boring.

Well, this was embarrassing...he suddenly had nothing to say. He paused and was almost about to laugh. A sharp citrus smell wafted lazily 'cross the path of his nose. He looked into the mountain of oranges like trying to find a conversation hidden in them. Finding it futile, he settled on what would make the most sense to say.

"Uhm, hello," Link said, kicking the his left heel with his right toe.

A pause hung over the night air, but the fall wind said it was too late. A flash of light passed over Sheik's eyes; a bike spun by and almost clipped a girl walking next to them. Sheik turned to Link subtly- his head only tilting a bit- but it had the effect of looking at him full-on; the hand with the orange lowered. "...Hey," Sheik answered, his eyes lighting up a little.

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The night was a song- started with that deep medium blue of eight 'o' clock and the bursting of white stars one by one to guide the night on. Ice cream in the atmosphere. The day was now windless; what had started out as a small cyclone along the ankles was now dead, a floating spirit on the air lazily wafting into Link's ears and through his brain. Liquid lamplight clarified the twisted clusters of tree branches, retrieved their shapes from florid darkness twisting a veil over form and matter.

It was the end of summer, and there was this fall breeze that kissed the air and ran shivers down his bones. Even in the streetlight pale, though, Sheik was made of graffiti colors- his energy guided Link through the foreign streets that were like a sand-torn desert. They were traveling in crowd of somewhere around five, swimming along, made of pure bronze and meeting the night head-on.

They didn't even need to be doing anything, didn't need to be going anywhere; just this breezy high feeling on the cold night was enough to jumpstart the nerves. Link walked ahead of the lagging group, at the forefront with Sheik who seemed to be guiding him low. The rest of the gang was all rowdy anyway, they were already on their kicks.

Words were pointless; the highest form of expression at the moment was a kick of the limbs, shooting straight out into the night. A felaheen car swooshed by like a turtle, and a young mother was coming out of her apartment building for kicks. The group came onto a neon-lit commercial street and a small argument came up about where to stop.

"Aw, Sheik, let's stop here," Raven said- Raven was the one with the tomcat eyes and the bandit smile who Link had seen at that party a while ago.

"And why?" Sheik answered, continuing to walk like fluid darkness, but stopping on a short turn.

"I'm fuckin' tired of walking," Raven answered, spitting onto the ground. Link lost his balance for a moment and leaned oddly onto his left foot, close to Sheik.

"What place?" some chick at the back of the group asked.

"Gillian's," Raven spat back. Raven was like an alligator- he thrashed through things with a toothy smile and fixed eyes, without regard to form.

"Gillian's? Awesome, this place is supposed to be good," another guy said. "Let's stop here, huh, Sheik?"

Sheik ran an idle hand through his dark blonde hair and seemed to see cosmic space; the look reflected in his eyes was full of the magic darkness of the unknown. He looked at Link, and his eyes lowered a bit; Link jolted from daydreaming at that look- seemed to be asking him something. "Well?" Sheik asked, waving smally toward Link.

"What?" Link asked, dumbly.

"Is here fine with you?"

"Aw don't leave it to the kid," Raven snapped back, and then shrugged huffily, "Imma go in anyway."

"You probably just have some fleece to pull," Sheik threw back at him,- the glint in his eye made Link imagine he was smiling.

"Hah, maybe," Raven smirked back.

"Regardless- Link, what do you think?" Sheik asked.

Link shrugged, the cold wind blowing at their backs. "It's fine with me," he shrugged, cocking his head. Sheik looked at him more intently and Link shrank back- and then they both laughed, and the wind blew up a white light.

Sheik gestured toward a door on the street- any door, choose your adventure- and his hand, small and quaint, held all the authority of the executor, and vanished into the tunneling space of the night. "Your guess, Raven," he said, and his head tipped up a little. The streetlights and the concrete played shadows on his face, secret and magical, and hollowed out the shapes; made shadow-plays on his bones, and struck right through the flesh like a bullet to reveal all of Sheik's cosmic force- made it clear that he resided in the middle of blue neon space. Link smiled, feeling that this was what he'd been waiting for.

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The place was even more warm than the last party- had a decor colored like beer and an aura of silver sequin that gently poured down from the ceiling- but like that last place, it was vague. It was maybe a lounge of some sort, but everybody still seemed to know each other. Link was a little confused, but not caring much- he was having fun, and as everybody saw, when he was happy he exuded a particular brilliance- a certain shine that smiled blindly and cheerfully. He was still a little reserved- he was new, after all, and didn't want to give the wrong impression- but he was effervescent and electric, a voltaic battery in silver and platinum gold.

You could hear his laugh across the room. Sheik smiled. They had stuck together most of the night; now were at the bar, near a man who was sunk in the misery of bein' drunk. "Nobody understands," he moaned, as though in pain- but then he lifted up his head and seized them with a look. "But you've- _gotta_ understand!" He flailed his hands; the look in his eyes melted like molten silver.

Link turned his head to him, surprised that the man was addressing them, but Sheik just turned his eyes as if it were expected, had known the drunk was looking toward them all along. "Excuse me?" Link asked, blinking, in innocent confusion.

The man paused, seemed to be surprised to be answered; and then he looked over Link, and saw something in the brilliance of his person. Without warning he lunged forward and got a death grip on the cloth at Link's shoulder, the other hand following suit; Link jumped a little in complete confusion. "The world," the man despaired, shaking his head of some kinda pain. "The _world_- when this all comes to an end, nobody's gonna- I mean who's gonna- you know _be here_? To tell the tale?"

Link's eyes turned to a baby shade of alarm and concern, and Sheik almost let out a rich laugh. "Yeah- uhm," Link managed to answer, looking at the man's hands on his shoulder.

"Right! Right? Nobody's gonna be able to- _tell_, you know? _Tell_? Yeah? I mean- and it's- _important_!" He shook Link a little, as if he'd forgotten he wasn't holding onto a beer mug anymore. Link's expression said "help me!" in the worst possible way, but Sheik was watching with intent and amusement. "And the worst is- when it explodes- it'll all be- lead! Lead and plastic! All that lead, and all that plastic- all that _shit_ we use every day- and fucking- ahem- and can you _imagine_? Nobody will be able to _tell_! Do you understand- do you get it? Do you _under-stand_?"

"Yeah, I kind of, uhmm, get what you...hahaha," Link answered as best he could, dissolving into light, nervous laughter.

"But of course," Sheik cut in, sliding off the stool he was sitting on in a smooth movement, "when the world explodes, there will be more- confetti skulls, the silk bat, manic gumballs- the slashed forests razed to a pity, and the fallen stars in a blaze; the dying fanfare. In addition to the lead and plastic."

Link and the drunk man had both turned to Sheik, with different reactions. Link had a huge grin smack across his face, to which Sheik eyes lit knowingly. But the man had risen from despair into a panicked light- and then right down into the black hole of anxiety, much deeper than misery could ever be. It was as if the ingredients Sheik had thrown into the pot had changed the formula of thought dramatically. "...wha- What?" the man asked, looking into himself at the ruined puzzle.

"Hey! Watchyou losers doin' here all night?" Raven bit through the atmosphere, apparating suddenly from nowhere, "There's a whole fuckin' party goin' on! And women for the fuckin' _picking_." He grinned, and though Link noticed his wolfish eyes scan over the drunk man, he seemed not to take him into consideration.

Somebody had taken over the bar piano, Link noticed as notes and chords trickled, beat through mind for a moment. Sheik indicated going with a slant of his hips, seemed to have converted the drunkard into empty space-to forget about him in a flash. Sheik made a gesture to Link that said gently that he should come if he wanted to and then began to imperceptibly make his way away from the bar. Link looked back at the drunkard and thought for a doubtful moment that they probably shouldn't leave him alone; but then weighed it, and decided quickly and happily that he'd probably be okay on his own. Just for safe measure, he gave the drunk dude a small reassuring pat on the shoulder as he passed him and headed off behind Sheik, by which he unconsciously made it all the more worse. But this was the night, and these were its stories- the cutting night will always be indifferent.

The moon was even shining in here, yellow and crepe paper and dusty wine. The silver dreamy quality was still wafting about; and Link trailed behind Sheik in a small puppy walk, while Sheik moved with slim assurance, liquid dark. Link smiled at a woman who waved to him nearby. "People are strange," Sheik said just ahead of him, and Link snapped his attention back to Sheik, "Memory is an illusion."

Link smiled, gleaming softly. "Sometimes, the way things are, people become second to the scenery, I guess," he agreed, with a small shrug.

Sheik's eyes changed a shade and he looked at Link consideringly, as though weighing a new thought. "But- it'd be un_wise_ to let them know," he answered, with a slick, dangerous tone and a light in his eyes like smiling. Link laughed in return, as though to promise- Sheik was still trying to figure out what Link's laugh reminded him of...

They were moving on when out of the warm space suddenly came two figures, and bam- Link almost bumped into them dizzily. He looked over them for a moment. "Oh, hello, Sheik," one of them said, his speech very gentle and deliberate- sounding very well-thought out.

Sheik's eyes turned another shade- were like wheels, in fact, always revolving, always changing to match the mood. "Ah, Shad," he answered, his voice light as his feet.

Link was introduced to the soft-spoken one, Shad (a guy with messy hair and round scholar's spectacles, but with very cautioned manners, and a soft way of behaving) and then introduced to the other one- but, hey! He knew that guy- it was Kamo, that guy who was crying about Sheik at that party. Link noticed, indeed, that the expression on the dude's face melted like butter into pale horror, his eyes in death alarm- but Sheik seemed not to notice. Link waved smally at him, but Kamo didn't acknowledge him back, so he dropped.

"How have you been?" Shad asked politely.

"Between a thought and a scream," Sheik flashed, "But it would be useless."

Shad smiled. "Ah, ever yourself," he remarked with a nod of his head. He looked curiously over to Link and smiled, a very soft smile that Link imagined looked almost weary. "And you are?"

"Oh, my name's Link," he answered with a curious blink.

"Good to meet you," Shad answered, and they shook hands. Kamo just stood there wet as a noodle, looking sunkenly at Link. Shad noticed this and it became a bit awkward. "Well, it was good to see you, Sheik," Shad nodded.

Sheik and Link watched their retreating forms- Link curiously wondering why Kamo had looked at him so sullenly, and Sheik with his body on the precipice of balance, held by a red thread- and Sheik suddenly spoke, with a manic energy in his tone of voice. "Shad is a scholar- everything is 'good' with him," he observed with a certain tone.

Link looked at him and smiled. "He seems nice. Who was that guy with them?"

"Which one? The blonde?"

"Yeah, nobody said anything about him."

Sheik paused, and his expression read mild curiosity- eyebrows raised a bit. "He's a writer." He seemed to crack a smile. "Writers never have friends for long."

Link paused in awe, his mouth contemplating, pondering on the mysterious truth of that as a song full of bright city lights and whirring starstruck nights played joyously on the stereo overhead. How could Sheik see through so much?- he had eyes that looked into the core of everything, that penetrated into empty space- and seemed to live in a world separate, full of intrigue and erratic circumstance. Forget theory- this was it, plain and clear.

But then Link realized that his throat was dry. "Let's get something to drink!" he suggested sunnily, so the two of them made their way over to some kinda communal watering hole or another. Low lights moving, and the feeling of breathy space howling abovehead- a banshee scream, inaudible to mortal ears for pitch. The rose in the atmosphere bloomed on full.

They were sitting around on cursory stools at the lounge when a woman with long dark hair and the heavy, sad eyes of a saint reached over Link to get a drink. Seemed a normal enough happening; her thin white wrist underneath his nose, her eyes not falling on him- but she noticed him and got embarrassed. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she fumbled, hurrying to an apology with a light laugh that made a bright contrast to her darkness, the sensual heaviness of her hair and eyes and mouth.

"Oh, no problem," Link answered, smiling, "I like your perfume, anyway."

She paused and smiled, quirked her head a bit. "Well, thank you," she answered, smiling right back rosily. There was a silent moment that was all smiles and quiet roses, and she looking at Link with wanting eyes.

She had already gone when Link turned back to Sheik with a topic on his tongue to find Sheik looking at him with lidded, smiling eyes. Link laughed. "What?" he asked, quizzically.

"Ah, you're that way," Sheik answered with a teasing tone, mysteriously.

"What?- What way?" Link asked breathlessly, feeling under accusation, almost knocking over his drink as he flailed.

Sheik leaned in his seat as though to dimiss it; but then looked at Link dead-on. "You're good with women, hm?" he answered, the rhythm in his words making the mark exactly.

Link smiled sheepishly. "Oh- I don't know," he answered, in all honesty. He had always noticed he made friends with women easily, but he didn't think of himself as any kind of Methuselah, not a lady-killer by any stretch of the imagination. He didn't really even think that was such a good thing to be, anyway...

Sheik's eyes just turned a shade and he seemed to consider it in the strangest way; Link wondered if Sheik was thirsty- or if maybe he wasn't drinking because of the face mask.

The night spun off in an empty impression; things happened too rushed to be remembered, memories didn't even have a chance to be born, busily hurried off from the womb- only recalled by a series of colors and feelings in the dark, moving like a picture show. Link was half-buzzed and his feet were dreaming- he half-stumbled out of the place when the it was over, wondering how to get home.

Sheik and Raven were beside him, along with a surly chick who was brooding under Raven's arm. Raven was chattering about something and the girl snapped nastily at anything he said- he'd say the sky was blue, she'd refute it for the sake of her honor. Under her bob and her heavy mascara she was just itching to get back to her apartment, but he had other plans.

"Aw, c'mon, babe, let's go back to my place," Raven was pleading with her.

"Nah, I gotta go home and change the cat's litter," she answered, yawning loudly. Link thought she must be having a hard time or something- thought maybe she had some secret sadness in her life; she must, if she was acting that way.

"Aw, come _on_, fuck the cat!" Raven scoffed, turning his head, his eyes sharpened.

She slipped out from under his arm. "Well, I told my mother I'd be home at one," she reasoned, "I can't just be home tomorrow morning, what the fuck do you think I am?"

"Fuck your mother!" Raven answered; Sheik let out a loud laugh and Raven began to smirk. Link couldn't help but giggle a little, but the girl shot him such death eyes that he quickly stifled it behind fake coughing.

"Fuck my mother? I bet you guys all think you're really funny," she spat.

"Come on- we'll call your mother and set things straight- and forget about the cat- Sheik, tell her- shouldn't she come back to my place?" Raven countered, turning to Sheik on a half-pivot.

Sheik paused and shrugged. "Sure, she should," he answered, turning away toward the street, his silhouette lean and hungry under the lonely lamp. There was no sound in the street except for their voices echoing off the brick.

The girl's mouth tightened and she glared at Sheik, trying to burn through his figure which was in fact impenetrable. "Why should I listen to _him_? He's a misogynist," she answered, her words stewing in thick, swampy negativity.

Link sent a questioning glance toward Sheik. A misogynist? What did _that_ mean? Sheik hated women...? It didn't seem that way, but then again, these people knew him better. Sheik's only response was a half-manic stare toward the street and a light laugh.

Raven struggled for another thought- strategy failed, gotta move to plan B...he looked toward Link, standing innocent by the curb and looking at an empty soda can. "Well, how bout the kid- hey, should she come with me?" Raven rejoined as Link kicked the can toward Sheik, beginning a small soccer game.

"Huh? Uhm...I guess, why not? It could be fun," Link answered through a blonde block of bangs.

Raven and Sheik laughed- Raven's laugh booming and assertive, Sheik's dark and full, small and seismic. "Man, Link, you're funnier than I thought," Raven answered, getting his name right for the first time that night.

The girl looked at Link with a new dark thought forming, and Link and Sheik went back to their game of soda can soccer- looking like two young favela kids. "Come on, let's go call your mom," Raven offered, gesturing toward the girl.

"'Let's'? What do you mean 'let's'? You want to make my ma worry to death?" she snapped.

"Aw, you shut your mouth," Raven answered, now sounding verifiably pissed. All he wanted to do was lay this chick and she was makin' it so fucking hard!- "Thank God for the kid!" he called to the street, whooping loudly- the hollow clank of the can clattering in the background.

"Thank _God_? And why should I listen to that kid anyway? He's barely outta kindergarten," she laughed bitterly, sending a glance to Link that was strangely hot.

"You're such a bitch," Raven dismissed, slipping his arm around her waist; didn't work though, she smacked him off with a vengeance. "Alright, catch you faggots later," he waved off, and him and his girl stalked off toward the nearest payphone.

"Goooooooaaaaallll!- oh, see ya, Raven!" Link turned hurriedly to say, interrupting a cheering dance to wave at him. Someone from a window above groaned, "oh my God, shut _up_," and Link yelled "sorry" back.

He turned back to Sheik with a broad smile, to which Sheik couldn't help but laugh- Link was angel down, but he was also so vibrant and sunny, for what reason he couldn't tell. "So, you're a misogynist? Jeez Sheik, I don't think I can even be your _friend_ knowing _this_," Link grinned.

"Do you have a per_mit_ for this _hare_assment?" Sheik answered, swiftly blocking the can and sending it back in one quick movement.

Link laughed. "Watch this- it's like _karate_," he said, beginning to demonstrate the beginnings of a complicated kick- which totally missed. Sheik clapped softly in the darkness and Link sent a surly glance toward him. "Well, whatever- penalty kick!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know," Link laughed, "Either way, I'm going to win."

"Win? I don't _believe_ there are any rules- without the structure there's no way," Sheik answered, "And what are you playing for?"

"What do you mean? Like a prize?" Link asked, thoughtfully, kicking the can back. A boyish smile overtook his face, he said, "Gee, I dono- why don't you let me see your face?"

"Cute," Sheik answered, kicking the can back.

Link shrugged and smiled. "Oh well. What time is it?"

"Quarter to one."

"Aw, crap," Link answered, his foot tentative on the can. He paused thoughtful.

"You have to be home?" Sheik asked, folding his arms in a graceful, light way, standing contrapose with the cars and the curb backing him.

Link shrugged. "I mean, I just don't know if they'll close up or anything," he answered. Sheik's glance was questioning, so Link continued. "The latest I came home was like 1:30 and they almost locked me out."

Sheik's odd balance teetered, and the foot that was poised inches above the ground set firm on the sidewalk; "We'll go then," he said, starting to walk as his posture corrected itself into slick straightness.

"Okey," Link answered, barely audible but for the stillness of sound, and kicked the can onto the grating of a babbling gutter. The silence pervaded and stretched a feline hand luxuriously down these back roads; but the dark stillness of 12 'o' clock midnight was already lifting, transforming into lonely purple.

Link could barely see Sheik ahead of him, marked his path by his small-sounding footsteps; in beats of lamplight Sheik's whole colors would be illuminated into being, but when the darkness swallowed them up and the lines of character were inhaled into vagueness and left to a half-dim memory, he could only make him out by the low red of his eyes and the odd hunger of his figure. Silence was the mode for moments that seemed like swallowing hard- and Link could almost feel the spirits of things moving around him.

"I guess we'll get a taxi?" Link asked out loud, not liking the silence- his voice breaking through the dream quiet like the neon of lightning.

"Sure, a taxi would be fine," Sheik responded mildly, ahead of him a bit.

Link paused. "Hey, Sheik," he started, tentatively- but the sentence faded into the headlights of a truck coming down the avenue.

"Hmm?" Sheik answered...the tones of his voice warm like copper bells even through the cloth. Link was surprised he could hear him from behind the mask.

They were heading toward the commercial street, toward the center of the city; there would be a taxi to hail from there- even if a guy was on a break, eating or sumthin, he'd take a passenger at an hour this dead. Cold was only a hint but there was a feeling of snow all around Link's limbs, and he felt a bit dizzy. Maybe it was alcohol digesting- maybe it was the odd way he was feeling.

"Oye," Link said in surprise as a black cat jumped out from the darkness of an alley and made a death lunge between his ankles to get at some garbage near him. Link wondered if Sheik was still expecting an answer; probably not; Link was taking inventory of what he had actually meant to say; again, probably not.

The street lights were coming closer together as they moved down the street, weaved past a music school and a group of guys talking at the corner. There was a little more noise. The few people they passed gave them odd looks- angel blonde and shadow child, Friday's children, but with the touch of another world.

"Hey, Sheik," Link started again, with an inquisitive tone- a tone that said that maybe he was looking to see if this would really work.

"Yes?" Sheik replied.

"Doesn't this place ever make you lonely?" Link asked, looking up to the iron sky.

Sheik paused and turned to Link, eyes hard at first- but then turning to a considerate shade. "Everywhere is lonely," Sheik answered, from his mouth the culmination of a thousand years of wisdom.

Link's mouth turned and he considered it. "I guess you're right," he finally answered, smiling. "But I guess it matters more on who's looking at it. It depends more on whether or not the person is lonely. I guess."

The pause between speech was filled with stars and darkness. Sheik's voice came up from someplace that was hidden; "A person stands on the precipice and in front of the mouth of a cave," he started, his eyes cutting through matter. "The individual feels the wind at his back and comes under the heat of his life but can see nothing. A man is a blind horse. And yet," he continued, with a slight pause on the stopping point, his eyes lifting- Link waited like a child in awe for the next part of the story, "you'll reach out for something and your hand will slip through; you'll look for a friend among a mob that turns out to be faceless. Is it lack of facility in communication? or is it that bones and blood are not a guarantee of similarity?"

Link looked over Sheik's frame, receding back into the smoky shadows, and swallowed- feeling that what he'd said was true, but that it was reflective in some of the sadder things he'd seen with his eyes. Was it hopeless then? He'd never felt it was hopeless, and he didn't think that Sheik would feel that way either. The white lights of all-night joints were beating fast into his mind. "That's so sad," Link mused, looking softly at the concrete.

"But it's not impossible," Sheik said, his voice now softer, his eyes looking windily into the plane of the street ahead. Then he turned his head quickly to the side to glance at Link. "There's always a chance at light."

"Yeah?" Link answered, with a smile. "I always thought so." His smile quirked up at the end, crooked and catty. "I didn't think you would abandon me to pessimism."

"Of course," Sheik agreed, "Watch your step there."

"What? Oh, sheesh," Link answered, stepping gingerly over this monstrous eruption of concrete in the sidewalk- a tree root or a pipe or something must have been pushing the block up. "The question, I guess, is what's the light?" He walked in a sort of spinning dance ahead that Sheik regarded with interest- a free type of windy movement. A streetlight was made into a stage light behind him and he turned backwards, walking with his face to Sheik.

"Who knows?" Sheik answered, shrugging- eyes strong- "It could be a person. Could be a thing. Or, the perfection of yourself."

"Some people, it's animals, even," Link said with an excited look on his face, "Like, once, I knew an old man who always walked his dog, ate at the table with his dog- he really loved his dog- I guess that it was keeping him from feeling alone. Isn't that funny? Or this woman who always read books, lived with her books. Maybe it's just harder to love people?"

"Love's odd out," Sheik responded, eyes full of energy.

"I don't know," Link shrugged simply, "Seems nice."

"Seems so," Sheik answered teasingly.

"What? What now?" Link asked, but the way he said it was devoid of irritation- just pleasantness, a smile.

But the conversation was different as they neared the center of town. When they were about a block away, with the train station, the _gare grande_, looming round in sight, when they found a taxi slowly trudging down the street. As if at the gun of the referee, Link broke into a pointed jog, flailing his arms and yelling for the taxi to stop. The taxi driver, bewildered by this crazy kid in the corners of the night, slowed to a stop in the middle of the street. Link ran lightly over to the driver's window, laughing at something Sheik said along the way- that light, airy laugh- and then tapped on the window. The driver rolled it down. "Hey! Can you take me?" Link asked, as if the driver _wouldn't_. The driver, confused as shit, nodded, his eyes like saying- "..._yes_?"- and Link smiled broadly. "Oh, good!" he answered, then whirled back to Sheik and joined him back on the sidewalk.

"The guy says he'll take me. Are you sure you don't want- ?"

"I'm fine," Sheik waved off, leaning on invisible air. Link didn't bother to ask where he lived, or how far away- something in him knew Sheik knew what he was doing.

"Okay," Link answered, smiling. He laced his fingers together and stretched, catlike. "Do you want to uhm meet up tomorrow? To do something?"

For a moment, the air was odd. A pause fell between them that Link felt shouldn't be there. Confused, he looked up to Sheik's face- where the look in his eyes had completely changed. No longer warmth or energy. Now, there was only a hard- _scrutiny_- or what was that? A look that cut like a flint edge, that regarded Link as though he were a piece to be weighed- that judged, suspicious and acidic. Link shrank back in confusion, sort of wishing he hadn't asked at all.

The look lasted too long. Link was about to ask him what was wrong, or else just say forget it and go to the taxi- but there was a turn of Sheik's head. As though he had come to some conclusion, he answered, "Alright," and shifted the balance of his body.

How confusing. What was that look for? Link nodded and let out a short laugh and Sheik's demeanor changed back completely with ease, as though it was only a skin he needed to shed. They decided on a place to meet and a time, and Link gave him a sunny smile and a wave and ran back to the taxi. On the drive home, he looked at the white street lights that drew shadows and reflections on his face with a buzzed, tired smile- confident in them, and in the spinning tunnels of the night that blew wind onto the street and carved dreams for the sleepy morning.

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_A/N_: Thanks for reading and stick around!


	2. Part 1: 2

_A/N_: This chapter starts off a little slow, but it gets pretty win at the end. It turned out to be twenty-five pages, just to let you know.

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Warm front push me home, summer bring me down to sleep. It's a slight rain drizzling down, ashes in the air- summer burning, dying all around. Link started out from feet to a taxi, to meet Sheik to eat, and the sun like honey melted into his mindset. He didn't think about that look Sheik had given him last night; his mind just forgot about it, dismissed it in looking forward to the day.

It was a lunch place on the corner of a busy street near the train station, late afternoon. Pfeople were bustling by as usual; flags waved in at the call of autumn. Link paid the fare (noticed how light his pockets were getting, wondered about the lining of his jeans) and got out, looking around and inhaling the smoky, gritty air. Maybe Sheik was already there...

The terse, full smell of broiling fat hit him as soon as the door opened, knocked back a quarter inch by deathly strong onions. He looked around and by force of magnitude, he spotted Sheik sitting by a window, a sitting time bomb exploding into sound among a sliver of normal life. Sheik seemed like a person who liked to be early, anyway. Link passed execs on their lunch breaks and secretaries having coffee to reach the little table, yellow booth made of nylon stars. The neon glowing menus above the long counter were colored yellow and blue, and boxcar metal shone on every surface. He slid into the booth; they exhanged forgettable greetings. Link smiled soft and Sheik's eyes nodded knowing.

"Sorry, were you waiting long?" Link asked, propping an elbow on the matte surface.

Sheik looked over him. "Not at all," he answered, in a tone Link thought was curious.

"Oh, that's good. So! Whaddyou wanna eat? I don't know," Link began on a happy train of thought, all thumbs as he recklessly swiped a menu from a stand on the table, knocking over a glass pepper shaker, "Whoops. I'm actually not that hungry. I haven't eaten tho'. What do you think? Wanna share sumthin?"

Sheik was leaning wolfish on the grasping back of the booth, seeming to finally relax, and his hand rested, poised for danger, next to a small cardboard box of his cigarettes and a black lighter. "I won't get anything," he said, head tilted a little, prepared for Link's reaction.

"What!? You're gonna make me eat alone?" Link asked incredulously.

Sheik laughed hoarsely, his mind down a dark path that even he didn't know as Link looked at him with surprised blue eyes. Link smiled. "Are you sure you're not hungry?" he asked, in what Sheik took to be concern- though it seemed unlikely to him that someone would regard him that way.

But Link seemed sincere- oddly so. "I'm fine," Sheik answered, eyes a vague shade that would make anybody panic as words flowed easy.

"If you say so," Link answered, with a shade of doubt. He hadn't even thought about the face mask, in all honesty- it hadn't occurred to him. He smile roved, came from down a million roads; his eyes seemed like they came straight from the telephone poles along the highway blue.

Link ended up with a plate of yellow steak fries and a milkshake and the time between was lost between drowning laughs and the suppositions of like minds that had seen the same roads, the same nights and situations, even if not in actuality.

He was midway picking at his food, like a little kid, when Sheik was demonstrating something with the salt shakers; between a laugh he looked up at Sheik, low red eyes on the table. Sheik brought a hand up to brush some hair out of his face, tucked it behind his ear. Link noticed that Sheik's ears were qute-..._short_. Why were they so short?...Was he Hylian, or what? A car honked outside agitatedly.

Sheik seemed to immediately solidify, gather and bristle, at Link's open staring, even though the soft blue wasn't at all threatening. Looking at Link with low burning eyes, the posture of a cat, he tilted his head a little. "See something you like?" he asked, the tone dangerous.

Link snapped quick out of his reverie, startled by Sheik's voice. "Oh, no, not that- I mean, haha, not that you're ugly or anything," he laughed, waving it off, then looking back at Sheik with a smile. "I was just wondering, actually, uhm, why your- uhm your ears are short."

Sheik paused, but his eyes turned in a beat to the glitter of a smile- he settled back in his seat, and looked at Link again with that very low, gentle look. "For sure, I'm not Hylian."

Link blinked and leaned into the table. "You're not? What are you?" he asked. He seemed small and confused against the booth.

"Well, I'm a Sheikah," Sheik answered- wrapping himself in a mystery that was far from reach.

Link paused, and then laughed. "_Ohhhhh_- I shoulda known- because of your eyes...I wonder why I didn't think of that before? Huh." He paused, on a dime of thought. "Are you from the desert?" he asked, holding a french fry pointedly.

Sheik gave a short nod and a humming sound, propping his elbows on the table and leaning in with a lax, catlike posture; then looked back up to Link, red eyes flashing quickly before settling into stormy claret. Link wondered if he had meant to say something- but then Sheik just settled into the booth, looking like he knew something important- thin arms crossed like smoke. Chewing thoughtfully on a french fry, Link wondered at that Sheik could create magic out of thin air- some kind of deep sorcery.

"How long have you been living here then anyway?" Link asked mildly, out of pure disinterested interest.

"Since the storm," he answered, after a beating pause.

Link smiled and laughed, and then paused on a thought. "It's really hard to make friends here," he said, his mouth in concern- "Everybody here is so guarded. It's like they always have something to hide. Or like they think somebody's out to rob them."

"People panic," Sheik continued, again leaning on the table, "Pain is the last thing people want to experience. Everyone is born taking the easy way out."

Link thought for a moment. "I think it's better to try, anyway," he decided.

Sheik paused, seemed to nod- but his thoughts went down an opposite path. "Friends are a surface polish," he seemed to sigh, moving his cigarettes arbitrarily. "They disappear like smoke; recycle like air." He turned his eyes back up to Link, and they turned from boredom to vitality in a matter of seconds. "Friends turn without a thought, without even meaning to."

Link nodded with a slight frown. "But though, thinking like that, maybe that's why people are so guarded."

Sheik's eyes turned a brighter shade, as though he was allowing for that fact, as if he saw that Link had actually _got it_. His voice was level and warm; "This world is hard to move in. The tides'll keep changing on you. Complicity, pain, inquity- this is an obstacle course."

Link looked up at Sheik; in a moment there was the breath of something tacit, that filled the spaces between. Link smiled. "Let's stick together, then," he said, with a hero's tone- determined and brave, absolutely serious.

Sheik paused and looked him over. Who would say something like that?...There were no traces of duplicity in his smile, in his words- only that breaking sincerity that always seemed to be present in his demeanor. Where did this kid come from, anyway?

Link thought that a smile was present in Sheik's eyes. "Alright," he answered, half-on-the-sly. The waitress came by to clean up the plate of french fries and the sky outside was receding into charcoal night; apart from Link asking for the check, there was a spot of silence.

The fall gloom was descending on the trees and they could tell that there was wnd outside, but the warmth in here contrasted comfortably. In their quiet, other noices became apparent...Behind them, a girl said, her voice full of coffee- "So he's taking this girl here and there- he's takin' her out to _dinner_, holding the _door_ for her- and he's thinkin' it's about time to, you know, get his freak on. So he goes with this girl to her apartment, and she says to him- 'you know, I look at you like a best friend, like a big brother-' and he's like, 'what- the- _fuck_'?!"* Link's eyes hooked onto Sheik's, and his airy laugh became the only light sound cutting through the gray.

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They were huddling around a table, on a set of couches from city furniture showrooms- dice and drinks on the table, a bottle of whiskey painted emblem amber. It was Raven, Link, and Sheik again; that guy Shad, too, and his writer friend who was grinning intrusively but remained anonymous. That chick who Raven had been trying to bang yesterday night was standing across from their table, stabbing evil eyes at them whenever they dared to laugh- which was a lot, so it didn't quite matter anyway.

"I'm fuckin' surprised they don't stop you at toolbooths," Raven was saying surly to Sheik, lighting a cigarette.

"And why is that?" Sheik answered. It was weird- most of the barbs came from Raven, but you could tell from the way he talked that Sheik had the upper hand.

"That fuckin' mask- you _look_ like you're gonna like bomb the entire fuckin' world," Raven answered, leaning back in his seat. Link was the first to laugh, and Shad and the writer followed hesitantly- had been looking at Sheik with wary eyes.

"That could be it," Sheik replied, leaning back similarly, exchanging a smiling glance with Link.

"I _know_ that's it. I'm surprised you're even allowed in society," Raven said.

"Everything is forgiven when you have money," Sheik answered, flashing flame off a lighter. Link leaned on the armrest, wondering if that was true.

"You have money Sheik? Sweet," Link answered, with a grin.

"Don't get too excited," Sheik replied, with a small hint of a laugh.

"Sheik's money is the only fuckin' reason we exist!" Raven snapped, with a loud belly laugh. "Holy Shit, imagine what Zelda'll say when she hears you said that?"

"Said what?" Sheik asked, mildly.

"'Everythin's forgiven when you got money'," Raven repeated- mixing up the words to sut his style of speaking. "I'm totally gonna fuckin' tell her when she gets back- she'll get that look on her face and be all- 'Sheik, you shouldn't excuse the cruelties of the world,' or sumthin' like that."

Shad shook his head, leaning forward to take his drink. "Zelda has a strong sense of justice," he said, sipping conservatively.

"That's Zelda, I guess," Raven answered. He eyed Sheik suspiciously. "You're the one stuck with her- man, I wouldn't wanna be saddled with that chick in a million years."

Link smiled. "Zelda? Like the princess?" he said, attempting at a cheesy joke.

There was a beat of a pause; Raven looked at him like he had just affronted some rule of society. "Yes, like the princess, you fuck," he said, deadpan and scorning, picking up his glass from the crowded table. "Oh, shit-" he blurted out as he almost knocked over someone else's cup. Link paused, eyes confused- ..._what_? Why had he gotten that reaction? Was it actually Zelda, as in the princess?

"Anyway, Connie's givin' me the look- I'll go over there and fix her ass," Raven said, getting up, and giving a short wave over his back. "Later, losers."

Shad and his friend talked a bit about judgement day, or something less harsh, and Sheik and Link turned heads with their way of speaking- as though everything was some kind of inside joke, laughs and riddles intermittent, laced through artless speech. Well, artless on Link's behalf; everything Sheik said was a well-thought out stanza from either the top or the bottom of his mind, written out by his subconcious in a time past.

The atmosphere rose with the colored lights; the stories of life all meshed together, but hidden behind masks, under the alcohol embrace. People looked over, yeah, probably because Link was a newcomer in the circle, and because Sheik usually allowed no one in his cosmic vicnity. Nobody came over though, except these two kids dressed in urban green with red hair covering their eyes...

"Oi! Sheik, who's this?" one said, leaning forward with his hands on his hips, inspecting Link as though he were a criminal.

"Introduce us!" the other said, poking Link in the shoulder.

Link looked over to Sheik in baby blue confusion; Sheik paused and looked Link over, then turned back to the redheaded brothers. "This is Link," Sheik began, leaning over on the arm of his seat. He paused- looked Link over with low eyes, seeming to form words to match an impression; Link laughed at his incisive eyes, and Sheik waved it off. "He's a hero."

"A hero? Huh. How are you a hero? Were you in the army?"

"Uhm, no," Link answered, cracking his knuckle absentmindedly. "Whatever he says, I guess," he added with a chipper smile.

"So you're a fake," another said, almost confrontationally.

Link paused, looking over to Sheik- who just seemed to smile distantly. He shrugged. "I guess so," he answered, turning his head quizzically.

"Huh. Well, I guess everybody is a fake at some point in their life," one of them nodded wisely, his hands on his hips.

"Yep," the other joined in, "You just have to get out of that period in your life. It's like what Lauryn Hill says in 'War in the Mind-' 'everybody knows that they're guilty, everybody knows that they're blind.'"

"Of course, you just have to get out of that period in your life, like she did," the other responded- leaning back from his scrutiny of Link and looking expectantly at him.

Link paused, wondering what they were talking about. "I don't really feel like I'm guilty though," he answered, his faltering tone confused as shit.

"But you just gotta _realize_ it."

Link blinked. "Oh, okay," he answered, hesitantly.

"Yes, you have to realize it," Sheik joined in, with a hint of humor in his voice, "Your life is torn in shadows."

Link kept back a smile with some difficulty. One brother leaned on the other's shoulder; "We like you, Link. You seem to have the right idea."

"Yep, thanks for introducing us," the other said, with a trite nod and salute. "Be seeing you, Sheik."

"If that's how you feel," Sheik answered, giving them a short wave as they swaggered off. Link exchanged a look with Sheik; shaking his head, Sheik leaned forward, taking his box of cigarettes and his lighter. "Don't pay any mind. They've got inanity on their mouths." He paused, eyes turning a light as he looked at Link. "They're the Lauryn Hill Brothers. They don't know about anything but Lauryn Hill, really."

"Lauryn Hill...why do I remember that from somewhere? Anyway, why Lauryn Hill?" he asked, leaning on the arm of the couch he was sitting on and looking at Sheik with a hint of fatigue in his eyes- his mouth slim and wanting. "Is she really good or something?"

Sheik looked back at him- curious as to why he was struck with a sudden feeling as Link spoke to him. "Posterity," he answered, flashing fire. "Modern times."

Without waiting for response, he got up from his seat- seamlessly as a cat. "Come along if you'd like," he said, with a nodding gesture, as he began to walk away.

Link got up from his seat, tailing after Sheik, curious as to where he'd lead him. The feeling in the room was vague; the lights were moving, but everybody seemed to be stuck where they were. Even if they could move, it wouldn't make much difference.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Then they were in this pitch black spot, between alleyways and neon, where grass was rebelling and growing up out of the pavement and there was only cat bones and mystic silence against the sloshing noises beyond his view. He couldn't see anything; wondered why Sheik had led him out here.

He could tell even in the formless shadows that Sheik had turned from him; he closed his eyes (because it was the same as the silent dark) and heard the fire sound of Sheik's lighter cut through the darkness. Sheik moved; Link paused and said, "I can't see anything."

"That's good," Sheik answered, his voice amused like chimes, and slid back against a chain-link fence.

Link half-smled and turned to where he thought Sheik might be, tripping over some cardboard boxes- saw only a bright orange button burning through the rainy dark- and the low, feral glow of Sheik's bloody eyes. His senses rushed fro a moment, right up into the caverns of his mind, and a car sped by like urgent news beyond his reach. He smiled to nothing, settled into his place and turned back to the street, where he could at least make out the vague shapes of cars and streetlights.

"Oh," Link said, realizing and turning back to Sheik, "So I can't see your face, right?"

"Possibly," Sheik answered, voice like music, eyes flashing to Link; the soft smell of smoke flushed into his senses.

"That's sneaky," Link answered, with a sly grin, shifting his balance- knocking over some soup cans. He paused. "Can you see me?"

"Could be," he replied simply; smoke sifted by Link's nose again. "Although, I see everything."

Link nodded. "I got that feeling," he said, looking up toward the stars. "Hmm, you never see any stars here."

Sheik paused, waiting for Link to go on; the pause ensued until it became silence again among the jewel stars. Link looked back to Sheik and smiled, with a light shrug. Whether or not Sheik smiled back was lost to time; but it didn't matter anyway- they were sealed, after all.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Link yawned loudly as the group huddled down the sidewalk; no stars in the sky, they were all dancing sleepily in his head. "Where do you live, anyway?" Raven asked from beside him.

"Oh, like, fifteen minutes away," Link answered, indicating the road ahead. "I can get there fine."

"Don't need a taxi?" Raven answered, shuffling his hands in his pockets.

"Raven's trying to pick Link up!" one of the Lauryn Hill Brothers shouted.

"Shaddap you faggots," Raven snapped, turning back to them.

Link smiled, looking back at the two brothers- stumbling drunk with their arms around each other- then at Sheik, who was walking to his left, eyes like a general. "No thanks, I'm fine," he answered, shaking his head.

"Whatever," Raven grumbled, lighting a cigarette. "You know, those two retards at the back keep callin' me a faggot. I'll fuckin' bust-"

"Change?" broke through their conversation; a portly woman in dirty fabric blocked their path with sightless eyes and a mouth that was mindless of the world; Raven muttered a curse and Sheik just stood back, as though observing the woman, with his eyes on the verge of an idea. The brothers at the back said, "What? Why'd we stop?" The woman bit the air; she said again, resolutely (voice like gravel and smoke), "Change? It means a lot."

Raven was about to bluster past her; Link rifled through his pockets, one eye closed, mouth turned. "Here you go," he said simply, handing her some rupees- as though they were schoolkids doing tradesies.

"Thank you, bless you," she answered, closing a dirty hand around the money. Her eyes reflected nothing as she walked past them like a ghost, probably heading for a fast food place.

"Okay, have a nice night." Link turned and gave her a short wave, other hand in his back pocket as they started off again.

Raven was the first to break the short silence. "What the _fuck_ was that?" he asked, eyes wide in a look of almost- _repugnance_, mouth open. Link looked at him with a bemused smile. "Are you fucking stupid or something?"

"Stupid? I don't think so," Link laughed.

Raven shook his head, scowling like a crocodile. "You never know if those fuckin' people are lying- people scam you all the time in this shithole," he said.

Link paused. "But if they're not lying..., you'd never know," he reasoned.

"Awright, awright, Mother fucking Teresa," Raven bit, rolling his eyes. "Just keep your fucking eyes open. You picked up a real dumbass, Sheik."

"That may be," Sheik answered lightly, giving Link a certain look.

Link smirked. "Hah, I guess so," he said.

There was a pause. The stars seemed to rain ribbons of white light down; and the urban scrawl was shouting savage into the calm night air. The bright headlights of a bargain car illuminated the gumstreaked path for a moment.

"So, I guess you're not a fake," one of the brothers mused.

"Yeah, guess not," the other replied.

Link smiled.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Summer had rushed by; in a glitter of leaves autumn swept in, colors burning subtly in the background. The scenery was sinking with the cold, but there was a mad rush in feeling that kept Link constantly on his feet, constantly out for the next event. Mornings were a breath of fresh air, afternoons with alone or with Sheik- nights the best part, breathless and exploding into platinum light. Always something to be uncovered.

Weeks dissolved. It could have just been days, but he could never be sure- the rhthym of time was different in his mind. Calendars became irrelevant, only decoration. It was a dark night full of empty corners and he was getting ready to head out, feeling the emptiness in his pocket as he blustered by the door.

Dark stones on the street; the same pattern of passers-by and localities. Casualties in the heavy setting sun. He walked like somebody who didn't believe in the death sentence, with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets. Somebody who might irritate officials with his pleasant expression.

Tonight he was going to some strange get-together in a middle-class part of town, some party or something. Could have been a committee gathering for all he knew. Rounding the last corner, the streetlights flashed on in rapid succession, and something in his mind flashed and clicked likewise.

Stardust was playing with iodine; geez, this looked like a swanky place. But it didn't matter. He did a half-skip up the stairs, attracting looks with his out-of-place cheer, and went through the black doors. A silent lobby was before him, suspended as though in a gallery of time. But then, he was pretty much the master of time; he walked toward the front desk, asked the lady where was the Rose Room? She answered down the main hall, the first door on your left. He nodded his thanks and flashed her a smile, went on his way.

He could hear the sounds of wicked chapel music and heavy chatter even outside the door. Going on through, there was an instant immersion into light and- what else was this feeling? Something that glittered darkly, something like glamour. Music was blaring and people were between savage fights and drunken toasts- two girls were doing a balancing act off pink-clothed tables, but nobody was paying much attention. Link saw his group sitting at a table by the dance floor, and gave a short wave, a sunny grin.

It was Shad who'd invited him; he was sitting at the table with his polite smile behind a glass of amber colored liquid. There were other people sitting around- some he'd never met, some he vaguely recognized. He had to admit he was a little relieved not to see the Lauryn Hill brothers anywhere..."Good evening, Link," Shad greeted, fixing his glasses, and gesturing to a chair, "You can have a seat there if you'd like."

"Thanks! Hi," he said, generally greeting everyone.

"Ah, so Sheik's not with you tonight?" Shad asked, taking a sip of his drink.

Link shook his head, eyes wondering. "Oh, no. Why? Was he supposed to be?" he asked, wondering whether or not he had forgotten something.

Shad just shook his head. "No," he answered, "You two are just together quite often." Shad looked at him with an inquisitive look in his eyes. "Do you like him?"

Link paused, leaning on the table with a nod and a broad smile. "Yeah, he's really cool- I like him a lot," he said, his expression shiftng to look that was starry and childlike, but a bit gloomy. He set his eyes on Shad curiously. "Why, don't you?"

There was an almost imperceptible pause that shifted in Shad's eyes. "Oh- yes, I do," he answered, taking another sip of his drink; he put the glass down, looked off to the dance floor. "It's only odd, because Sheik...doesn't normally let people very close to him. He's rather, well, reserved."

Link's mouth slanted a bit, pausing to think on that. He guessed maybe he could see that, that Sheik was a bit reserved. There seemed to be more to what Shad was saying, though; he recognized that, but his mind decided to just disregard it, maybe ask later. "Is he coming?" Link asked, scanning the bright room briefly.

"I don't quite know," Shad replied, with a shrug of the eyes, "It's rather hard to tell where Sheik will be at any given moment."

Link nodded, the look on his face a little disheartened- Shad noticed that and smiled as a parent would at a child. Honestly, everybody was great, Link liked everybody here, but it was always funner with Sheik around- Sheik just had this _thing_ about him. It was funny- he was distant and yet also very close, both light and heavy. It amazed Link that everything he said fell into place perfectly...he said some real funny stuff, too, and he was always upping the ante.

His eyes shifted to the people at the table as somebody asked him whether or not he'd like something to drink. He nodded. Yeah, he liked Sheik a lot- but he noticed that everybody seemed to have some reservations about Sheik. Everything people said about Sheik was always veiled behind choice vocabulary. People were always on edge whenever he was around- people waited to be spoken to before they spoke, people were hesitant to laugh at what he said. Their eyes would shift strangely. Sure, sometimes he'd cut somebody down, or get a strange look in his eyes, but Link still didn't understand why people were so wary about him. The only people who weren't, really, were Raven and the Lauryn Hill Brothers.

"Oh! Is Raven going to be here?" Link asked, eyes sparking on a realization, his thoughts completely distracted; slow trumpets played over the speakers, a dream of yesterday.

"Hmm? No, I believe he's visiting family today," Shad replied.

Link let out a loud laugh- that light quality that was hard to put your finger on. "Raven has a _family_?" he balked, and let out another laugh. "That's so funny- imagine Raven playing bingo with his gramma?" There was a communal chuckle passed around the table. "'Mother-fucking Bingo! Yeah deal with that shit old lady!'" Link imitated, in Raven's snapping, terse dialect. He grinned widely, tapping his foot underneath the table. "Wow, I'm totally gonna make fun of him when he gets back."

The people at the table laughed; Shad just smiled- he wasn't really the type for loud laughter. "Ah, have I introduced you to everyone, Link?" he asked, gesturing toward the other seated people. Until now there had been that tentative silence particular to newbies among them.

Link looked around, shaking his head. "Nope- I recognize you, though," he said, smiling openly at a baby blonde girl, who gave a small, hoarse giggle.

"This is Princess," Shad said, gesturing to the blonde; "This is Fado, and that's Malon."

"Nice to meet you!" Link grinned cheesily.

"So you're Sheik's friend? The hero, right?" Princess asked, leaning forward- dark eyes widening slightly, a friendly smile across her lips.

"Hero?" Link repeated, cocking his head slightly.

"We've heard you're a do-gooder," Malon answered with a wink. "Saving kittens from burning buildings, and all _that_ jazz. You look like a fairy to me, though."

"Malon! That's so horrible," Princess laughed. "She doesn't mean it."

"Yes I do," Malon rebuked, a teasing smile on her face, and- a strange light in her eyes that Link noticed when she looked toward him. "Where are you from? The country?"

"Mm, yep," Link answered with a short nod.

"Me too," Malon chirped chipperly. "How'd you meet Sheik, anyway? I don't really know him, but I've heard of him."

"Oh, well-" Link began.

"We met during the fire," said a voice behind him- that shadowy, soft way of speaking- smooth and with hints of warmth, but sounding a bit muffled. There was no _denying_ who that was- a smile came over Link's face like an immediate instinct, and he turned around slightly in his seat, grabbing hold of the back of the chair. And yeah, there was Sheik- with that same strong, colorful energy flowing steadily and seamlessly off his small frame, pulsing from his blood- his hand resting aloofly on the chair's back, his eyes looking smartly at Link, like he knew something Link didn't. Face clouded behind the cloth of his mask, dressed like a motorcycle artist.

"Sheik!" Link exclaimed- the look in his eyes settling down to something vague and shadowed, his smile sly. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh- nothing, especially," he replied- then cast a glance over the table, his eyes taking on a peculiar light. "Well, tell them."

"Tell them wha?" Link asked.

"How we met; or some other lie," Sheik answered, looking down at Link.

Link grinned and laughed a little. "I don't know," he said, turning back to the table. "I wasn't gonna say anything anyway." A mild look of curiousity passed through the table subtly- getting the impression that they were hiding something as Sheik let out a small laugh.

"Hello Sheik," Shad greeted- something in his demeanor shifting- "How are you doing?"

Sheik looked over to Shad as though he were something funny; slipped his weight, one hand on his hip- looking rainy. "It wouldn't matter either way. And yourself?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you," Shad answered, settling back in his chair.

Sheik didn't bother with introductions; looked at Link in carnival red. "I've business to attend to," he said- and as though punctuating his statement, removed his hand from its place on the chair, held it tentatively at waist-length.

"Oh, okay," Link answered, visibly disappointed.

Sheik stepped back; "You can come if you'd like," he offered, in a tone that said that he probably shouldn't.

Link paused, and then smiled; shook his head. "Nope, I'm fine. You gonna be around?"

Sheik half-nodded, half-smiled in his eyes, said, "I'll see you later"; turned in that slim, economical way of moving that he had, and started off for whatever business he had. "Why didn't you go with him?" Malon asked, taking a sip of her drink- something teasing in her eye. "He said you could."

Link paused on the dot of a thought; then answered, "Nah- he didn't mean it." There was an ushering pause. Link nodded solemnly, like some typa scholar. "If he'd meant it, he woulda said something like 'It doesn't make a difference to me' afterwards."

Shad laughed- small and soft, but still a surprising sound coming from him. "Goodness," he let out, "You know him too well."

Link smiled and nodded; but it even possible to know somebody like Sheik well? Either way, it didn't matter to him- they had a pact, and they were friends, and that was all he really wanted.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Minutes dwindled and died away on gray- became hours quicker than proposed. Some time ago Link had decided he'd look for Sheik, but he didn't see him anywhere. This place was sort of big, though, and he still had more place to look-

"Hoiiii! Link!"

Link whirled around, not immediately recognizing the voice; at some darkened table that looked as though it belonged in a murky corner sat an older guy, who looked like a soldier, the writer and Kamo. Oh, yeah- that was Auru, Shad's friend who was part of some union, or something.

"Oh, hey guys- you're Auru, right?" Link asked, approaching them.

"Yes. Where's your friend?" Auru spoke with the collateral of knowledge; he wasn't in your face about it, but you knew that what he said was backed by experience. He looked like a soldier in every possible way; then again in Hyrule lotsa things passed for being a soldier.

"My friend?" Link replied.

"That masked fellow- Sheik is his name?" Auru answered.

"Oh! Yeah, Sheik. I don't know, I'm looking for him now," he answered, kicking his heel against the tiled floor.

"What? How's _that _so hard?" Kamo asked, shooting up a skeptical eyebrow.

Link turned, confused. "Huh? What's that mean? Do you know where he is?"

"No- the mask," the writer said, gesturing with an open palm covering the lower part of his face.

"Psh. With that thing he sticks out like a sore fucking thumb," Kamo said with distaste, moving to set his drink on the table (cluttered with papers and cursory ceramic conainters of bar nut-type snacks).

"Now, Kamo," Auru began, with a note of disapproval.

Kamo just waved his hand. "If he's always wearing a mask, he should expect the attention," he said. There was this note of rebellion that had washed out the initial fear- but Link figured that it was just a cover-up, or maybe the alcohol.

"But you know he has his reasons," Auru mused.

Link paused, turning his gaze thoughtfully. "What is it, anyway? A Sheikah tradition?" he asked, hands clasped behind his back.

"No- that's the worst part," Kamo groaned ruefully.

"Then what?"

"Who knows? I told you, he's fucking crazy," he replied with spite.

Link paused, then smiled cheerfully and shrugged as his feet began to step. "It doesn't really matter anyway. See you guys later!" he said, turning and waving to them.

He probably left them with one impression or another, but what was good was good, and he moved on to other dreams. Some song was bopping over the radio speakers, and while people were playing drunken games that boredered on suicide, he was walking in rhthym, trying to find a friend in all this muk.

Every atom was in action; every material was stirring beneath the artifical lights, every mouth was on the precipice of expressing some thought that was doomed to begin with. A six-foot girl was playing some kind of zoo flirtation with two guys, and Link dodged her as she stumbled over drunkenly, laughing. Here was a corridor he hadn't seen...the plaster formed into an archway, through which there was a room with some tables and the long lacquered bar.

He felt certain Sheik would be here. He walked beneath it, approaching the polished tables; his blue sky eyes scanned the room deftly before settling on some commotion that was taking place under the thumping music. Not so much a commotion, really, as some kind of gathering- sequined people were crowding around a laughing girl and a lithe figure sitting at a table. Oh, so there Sheik was; with a smile Link pushed past more people and fell among the ranks of the group, but for certain, he was apart from it- standing on its margins.

Sheik was barely attentive to the girl who was sitting near him- she fidgeted, looking up at him with adoring, blinded eyes. He seemed to be weighing something somebody said, when, his radar picking up on the presence of another, his snake eyes moved serenly to where Link was standing. His gaze lifted, and he seemed to make a subtle gesture.

"Sheik! That's where you were," Link smiled, breaking through some people with a quick mutter of 'oh, sorry'; the girl looked at him a bit suspiciously. "You're like a fox."

"Or maybe you're the mole," Sheik answered- his eyes taking on that certain light.

"Mole? That's so mean," Link replied with a short pout, sitting down in one of the chairs- the people around seemed to look at each other questioningly. Link was just spun up in thoughts of being an ugly ground-dweller who ate worms and had whiskers on its nose and, _ew_..."Why a mole though?"

"You're too blind not to see, therein lies the problem," Sheik answered, leaning on the table, flashing a glance at Link that made him think twice.

"Maybe you hide too well," Link replied, dismissing the cautioned feeling.

Sheik's eyes had the look of a smile- that was what made it fine. "And what would be the point of looking? The road would never come to an end," he continued, "Better to stay where you are- better to watch quick. They'll tell you it's right, after all."

"Keep on your feet, but then nobody'd go any place, right?" Link asked- eyes all sunshine and stars.

The balance of Sheik's arm seemed to twitch- the shadow extensions of his body moved in harmony as he seemed to lean closer to Link. "Wherever people chose to die is their own choice. You may feel like you're moving, but it may only be the scenery," Sheik answered. His voice like night slipped up on a note of levity, and Link laughed.

The girl, you could tell, was feelin' defensive, was looking at Link with a well-veiled hostility. "I rec'nize you," she said, breaking through their riddles, "You were talking to Malon earlier."

"Oh, yeah, I was. Are you Sheik's friend?" Link asked, tilting his head in curiousity.

She seemed to go over her options, you could tell by the movement of her eyes. Figuring that this kid was too stupid to prove an obstacle on her quest for detainment, her manner softened. "Yep, I'm his _friend_- right, Sheik?"

Sheik paused; his eyes glistened with a note of humor, a note of an idea- as though he was on the verge of some grand scheme, or maybe he was thinking of burning the place down. "Hmm- it's your choice," he replied simply, turning his glance from her almost immediately.

"Why say something like that? You're so difficult," she said, her mouth pursing cheekily. She seemed to look at him, for a moment, in that motherly way- that intrusive way that's often confused for love.

Link paused, finding it hard to register that anybody would look at Sheik that way. Sheik didn't seem like he was anybody's child. There were some greetings exchanged, but the crowd seemed to dissapate- a few of the people said goodbye to Sheik, it was nice seeing him and that they'd catch up later. Oh, so there wasn't anything going on...

It was just Sheik, Link, and the girl soon enough, and Link looked nervously at her. Sheik seemed to disregard her- seemed to throw her out of his attention as though she was an expendable prescence. Seemed to barely care about her. She'd jump into the conversation unexpectedly, throwing suggestions at Sheik with a tone that was barely controlled, touching his arm like it was the hem of his garment. Link felt bad for her, but it also made him uncomfortable and awkward to get in the middle of it...

"And what did you talk of with Shad?" Sheik asked, looking up toward Link- but then away, with a casualness that sent a strange signal.

"Oh- nothing much- we just talked about...uhm, some people at the party- there was, this was funny, Shad started tell me that I was talking wrong- but anyway, we just talked about stuff. We talked about you at one point. Also, I was hungry, so we were talking about food," Link replied, spinning coins on the table.

Sheik's eyes seemed to be marked with- well, not so much interest, as something darkly amused when Link mentioned they'd spoken of him, but whatever it was he disregarded it. "Ah. If you're still hungry, there's-"

"Sheik's always hard to find, isn't he?" the girl broke through, reaching forward to touch Sheik's hand lightly.

A look marked Sheik's eyes that Link knew meant nothing good- it was a spark of irritation, maybe, but it was too acidic to just be irritation. It seemed to be the look that preceded an immediate action. Link's eyes went into alert mode for a moment, but thankfully it passed back into amusement just as quickly. "He's always here or there- he's good at hiding," she continued.

"Mmm," Link agreed with a nod and a weak smile.

"You wouldn't hide too long from me, would you, Sheik?" she asked, with a smile that made Link's gut wrench in concern for her safety.

Sheik spared her a slim glance. "It would depend upon my mood," he replied, shortly, looking toward Link again.

Link breathed relievedly- maybe Sheik was more patient than he'd thought? As long as she didn't cry, it would be fine, he guessed, even though he knew it was worse to cry on the inside..."Uhm, what were you saying about food?" Link cut in, almost too quickly- the fugitive resentment in the girl's eyes whiplashed out again, the beast from the cage..."Actually, forget it, I'm not hungry anymore. What kinds of foods do you like?"

Sheik paused; then let out a small laugh, tilted his head back a little- he usually did that when he laughed. Link smiled, but the girl's defenses were falling apart and she was trying for a comeback strategy. "Such a consistency of thought," Sheik said, looking toward Link again. "You're like the character from the song- the King of Punctuality."

Link paused, wondering what that meant, but laughed anyway, that airy laugh that cut like sunlight through silver. Or what would be a better metaphor? Sheik looked at him considerately- wondering again what that laugh reminded him of.

Link was about to say something again, eyes excited, but the girl jumped through his thoughts; she leaned forward in her seat, kicking her heels back and forth beneath the table. "What character would I be, Sheik?" she asked, looking at him with that smile of certainty.

Sheik didn't miss a beat; he turned to her slightly- and the look of sheer enjoyment in his eyes, Link found, was just as bad as that vitriolic viper look of irritation he'd seen before- it had this manic sheen that Link knew too well was not good news for the girl. He seemed to pause for effect; then, with a small laugh, said, "You? Fat Charlie the Archangel, maybe." Link winced in his mind-

There wasn't even time enough to notice the change in atmosphere- as disorienting as sudden violence, the electricity _snapped_ from its delicate hold, and just as suddenly she had risen from her seat. Reckless, yelling something incoherent with her fists slamming on the table- the drinks rattled, a hot and cold feeling alternated in Link's nerves. He froze physically, his mind rushing to put the pieces together to see what he should do. Peace was a deserter, the light flashed off her nouveau-riche rings and black beaded bracelets and the look in her eyes was straight-up poison _hate_. "You! What the Hell is your problem, anyway!" she barked.

Some people at the bar looked over and shared a laugh; Link's eyes darted to Sheik. His balance hadn't shifted in the slightest- his posture was leaning and casual, poised _just_ so...and his eyes still had that bright, laughing look. "Perhaps I'm a master illusionist," he answered, the words easy with the edge of iodine. "Or else a thief, swapping hearts for darkness;" he paused, looking at her with his head tilted up dangerously, in that way that lit the shadows and the hunger in his face- "You can choose."

"I put up with you- your fucking- your _riddles_ and your fucking- you can't let anybody in! That's your problem! I knew it, I knew it-" she paused- you could tell behind her lips her teeth were gritting together, grinding down to fury stars. Link was about to cut in, about to say something, but she continued- "You fucking asshole! You must hate women or something! Are you with Zelda?! To think I was about to fuck you!" Her hand jerked against a Collins on the table, and Link shuffled clumsily to get it; but thankfully she stopped _just_ short of knocking it over.

The amusement had passed out of Sheik's eyes by now; in its place, a look that shadowed the red darkly, something forbidding. "You speak as though you'd be doing me a favor," he said- Link's eyes closed- the crowning blow. He knew Sheik would do that...

The words hit her like a stun gun, like darts in the dark; she paused, and her mouth quivered. In that moment Link knew what her intentions really were, and his heart softened to look at her. Her eyes meanwhile hardened, but he knew it was only a flimsy defense. "_You_- fucking---" she began, but seemed not to be able to find the words to frame her wretched black anger; her courage gathered temporarily. "What are you, a fucking queer?!" Heads turned nearby; Link wished she'd just calm down...

"And if I were to say 'no,'" Sheik began, eyes cutting, "Where would that leave you?"

Her eyes widened and the light passed into them, showed how flimsy they really were. Her expression distorted for a moment, as though attempting anger- her head dipped down, and there was an awful sound that Link recognized. Her lips quivered, and she looked back up to the two of them like they were criminals already _proven_ guilty. She hiccuped through tears, and then tried fiercly to wipe them away. "You're such a shitty person-" she started to say, but Link got up from his chair and started toward her.

"Hey, Miss," he began, his voice soft, touching her shoulder briefly.

She slapped his hand away, her mouth wrenching. "Don't fuckin' touch me! _You're_ worse!" she snapped, looking at him like a hurt child, and with that turned on her black heels and hurried off in the direction Link had come- presumably to go to the ladies' room...

People were looking over now- some in vague concern, some in self-effronting mockery- but neither paid much attention. Link paused, then looked over to Sheik. Sheik looked up at him with a strange look- as though he expected Link to act similarly, to start lecturing him. The silence was small, filled up with the clattering of glasses. "I'm, like, so confused," Link finally said, with a small laugh that hid worry.

Sheik's eyes turned a shade, mildly; it wasn't that he was unaffected- you could tell that something was different, more tense, in his demeanor- but he just seemed not to hold it in high importance, as though it was something that happened every day in the most inane of places. His general's eyes flickered to Link, and as though in compliance Link took his seat again. "What is there to say? Every need has an ego to feed," Sheik said, his colors brightening once again, receding from that darkness that had overtaken him; the way he moved was warm once again, and Link leaned on his palm, listening interestedly.

"But I don't know- why do things like that have to happen?" Link asked, eyes turned up toward the ceiling.

Sheik looked at him interestedly. Two kids gambling on tomorrow- sitting at this nowhere table, looking over the same world- one the shadow, the other the hero. "Who knows? Sometimes, it is as though time itself directs life- as though events happen at the correct moments, falling into rapid succession."

Link smiled. "You believe in fate, Sheik?"

Sheik's eyes didn't pause on that thought. "I believe in time," he said, rearranging the glasses on the table to form a triangle, "and in spirits; I believe in blood and dirt, and masks. What could there be to believe in? Life is a game."

Link nodded; crossing his arms on the table, laid his head down like a resting dog. "I feel bad, though," he mused.

Sheik looked over to him- you could tell in Link's eyes that he did feel bad; the light in them was softer, a little older. Sheik looked at him; that vague comfort slipped back into his voice. "Don't feel bad," he said- snake charmer's eyes, voice like honey and ginger- "Other people's feelings are not your cross to bear."

Sometimes you had to weave through Sheik's speech, to see which wisdom was false and which was real- but there wasn't any need for that now. Link smiled and nodded, gathering back the confidence in his eyes. He lifted his head, most likely thinking of something exciting to do- but then his eyes widened, and he winced- he clutched his stomach, and leaning his head back like a wolf howling at the moon, exclaimed, "Oh my God, I'm _so hungry_!" After a moment or two of comedic whining his eyes snapped back to Sheik, who was regarding him with mild interest. "What time is it anyway?"

"Twelve-thirty," Sheik answered, seemingly without looking at a clock.

"Twelve-thirty? Hmm." Link paused, blonde falling over his eyes as he balanced the chair on its two back legs. He eyed Sheik with a smile, fixing his shirt a bit. "Wanna go eat?"

Sheik seemed to hum something as his manner shrugged. "I'm not opposed to it," he said, and with faultless ease rose from his seat, leaving the residues of the table to some other mind.

They started off past the memory murals and under the shadow of the archway, Link leading in a happy beat and Sheik following small and dusky behind. There were some laughs, some observations made as they left the wreckage behind, but nothing really but the forward glance- looking ahead to the rest of the night.

Link thought for a moment that he should say goodbye to Shad- but if he didn't see him, he'd just say it next time they met. They were walking along the margins, by the paintings (painted in that style that was to art as elevator music was to music), when through the dim noises of chattering and dancing, they heard:

"Hey! You!"

The girl's voice cut through the noises, aggressive and prideful. Link's shoulders sank a little and he turned on his heel, wondering, "What _now_?" Sheik paused tentatively, hand on his hip as he watched the girl approach.

Oh, Link recognized her- the red hair and the fiery eyes, the compactness of her body- that was Malon, who was sitting at Shad's table. She walked toward them like a woman on a mission. Link looked over at Sheik, but Sheik was watching her intently as she approached. "Oh, hi, Malon," Link began, but the spark in her posture was directed toward Sheik. Great...

"Hey asshole!" she yelled, pushing past some people; but even the fire in her country blue eyes recoiled at Sheik's desert glance. Her manner ebbed, but her words still came in full force. "Just who do you think you are?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"It would depend on the time of day," Sheik responded, shifting his weight.

"Yeah, well, it's time for an ass-kicking. What does that make you?"

Sheik paused, then the fearless amusement came back into the red. "The victor."

"Ha-ha," Malon answered, wryly, settling back. "You're a real piece of work! You made my friend cry!" She flicked her hair past her shoulder. "You could have just told her you weren't into her, you know!"

"It would have been the same," Sheik replied, calmly. Link watched for the signs of danger- none yet...Malon was a nice person, but he really didn't want to step between Sheik and whoever he was arguing with...

"It doesn't matter- you embarrassed her in front of all those people," she answered, the corners of her rose mouth pulling down in scorn. "You didn't have to do _that_." She paused, her eyes softened. "You just can't treat people however you want."

Sheik's head tilted curiously. "You should tell your friend that."

Malon paused again- her fists whitened at her sides, her fingers spreading out as if by nervous twitch, her frustration physical. Her eyes looked at him as though she was- looking down. "It's no use talking to someone like you," she said, her gaze shifting to the rest of the guests. "You're not sorry, I can tell. I can see that you don't know what love is, or how you'd even treat people if you turned out to suddenly have feelings."

Sheik's body seemed to spark- his balance seemed to react to some hidden electricity, and the look in his eyes was immediately like fire. Link was about to step forward, call it off, but Sheik's voice already cut through the conversation without even a semblance of the comfort it had previously held (instead only acid); "Love? That little girl doesn't know a thing about love- what in that resembles love? To push your displaced emotions upon another person, to try and resurrect your self-esteem through vanity, through empty relationships? I have nothing to do with her- if she's looking for a therapist she can pay hard money."

Silence was thick, spread over the scene, and the circuitry was suddenly breaking, sending shocks through the air like nervous twitches. Link looked toward Sheik, wide-eyed, his mouth parted as if on the corner of some expression; Malon's expression was shook. Her eyes turned empty, and her mouth tightened like a berated child's. She seemed to collect herself quickly, set her gaze on Link, eyes strong. "I'll see you later, Link," she said- as though trying to determine whose side he was on.

Link could feel himself swallowing. He gave a limp wave, and even though his eyes looked sorry, he wouldn't follow behind her. "Uhm, bye," he answered, glancing tentatively back at Sheik.

They watched her back down, retreat, back to her own battlefield; they looked small and lonely, waiting hesitantly on the coin drop. Link felt spun out of his hand- but cutting through vague feelings, Sheik's hoarse laugh sounded like a drum, small and dark. Link looked over to Sheik in surprise- he seemed to have shaken the situation off immediately. He pulled at the cloth a little, and the graffiti art along his limbs seemed to pulsate with life. "I don't know anything about love," he said- eyes secret and smiling- "It's twelve-forty five, and I emerge the victor."

"_Oh my goodness_" Link's mind said in awe, "_Run _now_, little boy_-" but he didn't say anything- just hid a half-laugh behind his nervous hands. Sheik turned on his heel, and began to walk again, his strong, soft way of moving. "Aren't you hungry? Let's be off."

Link nodded and quickly fell into step next to him. The party died behind them as they stepped past the art deco doors, into the city silence of the marble lobby; the secretary at the front was falling asleep behind her fashion magazine, and beyond the glass doors and the echo of their footsteps there was the street, painted vivid, savage colors, screaming into eternity. Sheik opened the door, Link made a flimsy comment about what a fine gentleman he was and Sheik said something about English tea; police sirens wailed on by and the cold surrounded them.

But as that fall crispness entered his senses and the streetlights were glowing lonely, Link was struck by this feeling. He suddenly felt as if he couldn't keep walking. His heart felt rainy; he bit his lip in semi-frustration and somebody blustered past them.

"...would don a mustache if it suits you," Sheik was continuing, walking like he could raise the dead; but he paused and half-looked over his shoulder, where Link had halted to a stop behind him. Sheik turned, curious, his weight shifting- his posture seeming to sigh like a cat. "And what's wrong?"

Link paused, scratching his head with his eyes puzzled. "Something's not right," he said, making a movement as though wiping sweat from his brow. His glance turned toward the street- the passing lights made summer colors on his pale skin, and Sheik watched as the blue turned to purple under neon red. "I don't know why..."

Sheik stood, waited, feline; moved back toward him as Link sat down on the curb, looking like a lonesome angel. "What is it?" he asked, leaning back into the city air, looking toward the street.

Link placed his hands on his knees, posture straight like a schoolkid, and watched the wheels passing by. "I don't know. Just. Why would she say something like that to you?"

"Like what?"

"That you don't know what love is," he answered, eyes half-lidded as he spotted an alleycat slinking by. Sheik looked down at him curiously; his mouth began on a sentence, but he hesitated for a moment. "Why would anybody say that to anybody? It doesn't seem it, but that's a cruel thing to say. And why would you hold something like that against somebody anyway? If somebody didn't know what love was, I would feel bad for them- I'd try to help them..."

The words sparked and flashed into Sheik's mind- left a low hum buzzing through his limbs. Help them? Help them learn what love was? He looked down at Link; he obviously hadn't caught the implication in it, but Sheik watched him intently. "Nobody's right, and nobody's wrong- it's not anybody's fault, you just have to- repair what damage is done- or something," Link continued, with a heavy exhalation.

This feeling was still hitting him; Sheik was lulled, almost- or was it lulled? Link looked up at him, and there was silence for a moment. Then Sheik's eyes were suddenly shaded and heavy- the red flashing and cutting through with heat that made Link fidget. "And what is love to you?" he asked, and the words struck Link as uncomfortably incisive, burning straight through- were asked with such a startling conviction that it was hard to muster an answer. "Possession? Devotion? Two bodies, making one? Or the blissful loss of singularity? Something that lasts forever?"

The words lingered; even as they died off on the air, their echoes pulsed through the street sounds that whispered by. It was amazing, how the world could be so still and yet so unbelievably tense- how the shifting of feelings could create an electricity too opaque to see clearly through. Link turned his gaze from Sheik's eyes; he tapped a rhthym on the tar like a nursery rhyme. His eyes had that particular strength, that partcular determination, that they took on when he had finally mastered an obstacle. "If I loved somebody," he began, mouth and eyes soft, "I would try my best to take good care of them. I would try to help them however I could. And I would try to make them feel like they had someplace to go. It's not your fault if you don't feel the same way about somebody that they feel about you. The only thing is, you can't hurt them- that's key. It's the worst to hurt people like that."

A car blasting hip hop blues flurried by onto the scene, and left with a whirl of air breezing through the sound. Sheik looked over Link's features carefully- the lights playing stories onto his skin, the soda blonde covering parts of his eyes, the concern in his expression. He really did seem to be sincere- he seemed to care what was actually right. Sheik's eyes smiled, and you could tell from his expression that he was impressed with his answer. "Then there's no need to worry," he said, the warmth in his voice subtle and sweet; "As long as you keep thinking that way, it'll be fine." He reached his hand out. Link looked up at him and grasped it, Sheik pulled him up from the curb with a fluid motion. Link smiled; Sheik's eyes were knowing. "How long have you gone without eating?" Sheik asked as they started off again.

"Jeez, I have no idea," Link answered, going cross-eyed out of hunger craze; he smiled at Sheik like an accomplice, and put his arm around his shoulders. "Thank you," he said, with confidence.

"Any time," Sheik answered back evenly, the words like shadow and liquid. Link laughed a little, slipping his arm away and kicked a soda can that was clattering in the wayward wind. Sheik's mind went up a dark alley that he didn't even know about; some girls passed them by- "They're both cute, but I like the short one;" "Really? The tall one is good! I like him better!;" "Go and talk to them, I dare you!;" "Oh God no!"- but their conversation slipped by into a giggle and a sanitation truck.

There was a place on the corner, facing the street at bold angles; glass windows and doors, and a cheap awning- a kebab place that was open all night, made its business off the party scene. The rain was shaking through the trees, and some drunken girls were arm-in-arm, singing, "_I get the blues for ya baby when I look up at the sun_..." The midnight lights struck into the sounds, and the rest of the night receded into memory.

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_A/N_: Thanks for reading. Come back for more!


	3. Part 1: 3

_A/N_: No author's note this time? Not much to say.

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"Hey, Sheik," Link began, turning over on his side- lying on a bench as Sheik was looking out across the industrial harbor.

"Hmm?" Sheik answered, his eyes vivid as he seemed to see the art between the physical lines.

"How long have you known Zelda anyway?" he asked, watching seagulls pass overhead.

Sheik paused; "Some time now. Since I was a child." His voice wasn't so edgy as normal- the light in his eyes hadn't left, but it was as though he wasn't running circles anymore.

"Oh, so since you were kids? Huh," Link answered, turning over again. The schoolkids had been out for a while now; they milled around the main streets with convenience store goals- a world apart from Sheik and Link. "How did you meet?"

Sheik looked back at Link with the light in his eyes thrown off; "Without luck. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know- just to talk I guess," he answered, smiling and sitting up.

Sheik nodded; then motioned with his hand as he started off. "Come on, then," he said, beginning to walk. Link sprung up from his place and fell into step right by him; a kid with a skateboard blew straight past them. Sheik looked back to Link with mildly curious eyes. "You'll like Zelda. You'll meet her when she gets back, most likely." He paused- a grinning look came over his face. "That is, as long as there's no plane crash, or anything of that sort."

Link smiled sheepishly back, let off a small chuckle. "Where is she now though? Doing like political stuff?"

"She's on tour," Sheik responded, voice smoky and casual, as if that were an everyday thing to say.

Link paused for a moment, imagining a princess holding a microphone in front of thousands of screaming little girls- or else a girl with piercings and tattoos playing the electric bass in some grimy club...but then again, he'd heard other uses of the word before, so he didn't say anything about it. He'd never seen the princess before- he'd only heard it said that she was beautiful. Anyway, how did Sheik know her? He must have been from a rich family, then...

The sun was setting, pearly pink above the gray buildings; they passed into the center of town, footsteps over the cobblestone...then into the market; making a left into the tavern streets. They were going to meet Raven and the gang, another drunken round, gunning off into the dark; in fact, Link hadn't spent a night home in weeks. Whether ruining blacktie socialite cocktail parties or slumming with the lowest of the underground, there was always something to do here...the flowers were sighing as autumn was exploding into fire colors.

The first one Link saw from the block over was Raven, positively _lurching_, smoking a fat cigarette beneath the awning; and then the Lauryn Hill brothers, who Link guessed were actually fun once in a while (when they were drunk, they stopped talking about Lauryn Hill at least)...

"Hey!" Link yelled down the street, stretching out the syllable and cupping his hands around his mouth.

The Lauryn Hill brothers turned their heads up lazily to Sheik and Link, their bangs obscuring their faces; Raven's eyes snapped to them similarly, and he made a loud whooping sound, throwing his cigarette into the street. "Hooooiiiii! Here he comes! He-who-don't-know-love!"

"Apparently," Sheik began as they came near to the group, "Love is some intense joke, some misplaced application of feelings."

Link laughed a little, Raven laughed a lot. "Fuck love!- Give me pussy!" he yelled, earning some disapproving stares from ladies across the street. He turned back to Sheik and Link, dissatisfaction crossing his face. "I heard you made that chick cry. Whatever, she's probably better off for it. Teach her some fuckin' manners."

Link looked up to the blue sky, kicking pebbles on the curb. "I don't know, I don't think it's right to hurt people, though."

Raven let out a disgusted scoffing noise, rolling his eyes. "Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot we were in the presence of Saint fucking Lucy. I'll remember next time. What the fuck is wrong with you, anyway? Don't you got any balls?"

Link smiled, about to say something, but Sheik cut through the conversation. "Fix your habit Raven- let's go," he said, beginning to walk.

"Fucking eunuch," Raven grumbled. "Well, come on, Link."

Old ladies and Parisian flowers were spilling impressions down from the apartments above; but it was a useless rain, because the only gang down was one of desert poets, street generals who stepped on charity, twins lost in songs- and oh yeah, one country orphan with a scene and a plan on his mind. "That chick's gone anyway," Raven mused, scratching his chin as they crossed the street. "It was her last day here, she went back to the country or wherever the Hell she's from." He stretched out, limbs stiff, and eyed Sheik curiously. "But y'know, if it was me, I woulda fucked her. As long as it was her last day here, an' I dint have to see her again- that's like a fuckin' Get-Outta-Jail-Free pass." He paused, on a thought- Link noticed the odd look in his eyes as he looked to Sheik.

Sheik had been looking out on the street; humming a memory melody softly. "And?" he replied pleasantly.

Raven paused, and then let out a heavy sigh. "I woulda hit that," he shrugged; but then his mouth turned on a thought. "But y'know, I guess there's always that fuckin' chance that she's gonna wake up in the mornin' with- 'Guess what! I love you and I'm going to stay another day or eighty.'* _That's_ the fuckin' worst. Still, she wasn't bad lookin'. Just shut off the lights." He scoffed. "You gotta get fuckin' laid, man. So what if she's not goddamn Byron's Evangeline? 'Sides, girls dig all that mysterious shit you pull. I'm startin' to think you got a thing for Zelda or somethin'."

Sheik turned to Raven; Link wondered on that- that was an interesting thought..."I'm not in love with Zelda," Sheik answered, with a tone that was too even, too calm, to be normal; although, there was nothing unusual about the look in his eyes...

Raven smirked. "Whatever, I don't really give a shit anyway."

A pause ensued (well, sorta a pause- the twins started to explain something about the song "Doo-Wop (That Thing)" that was relevant to the subject matter, something about self-esteem issues in young girls or whatever); Link was looking toward Sheik, wondering why he had answered that way...Sheik's eyes moved a bit (the jewel light in them changing, turning- throwing off light like gold in fire) and he let out a small laugh. "And what are you thinking, Link?"

Link laughed after a short spell of surprise. "Oh, nothing," he replied.

There was smoke from a pothole door as the group walked on by; passed onto a block full of jeweler's places. Cleared the Hell out of _there_, and onto dirtier streets. Outside a family restaurant there were tables out, covered with white taupe and propaganda. They seemed to be people campaigning for the upcoming election- for the reelection of the political _right_, or the instatement of the political _left_.

Raven grumbled a comment about "fucking world peace retards" and the twins said something about "Babylon's benefactors," and it seemed sure that they would pass the stands on by. Link thought these people were like salespeople, in their own way- was always glad to pass by a salesman, regardless of the product.

"Gentlemen!" a woman said brightly, as they were near her stand. "Gentlemen, may I stop you for a moment?"

They turned back to the stand. She was a clean-looking woman, straight hair neatly brushed and smile carefully waxed; clothing that wasn't offensive. A curious look passed Sheik's eyes and Raven's spirit seemed to evaporate. Without waiting for an answer (seeing they she had caught their attention), she went on: "Gentlemen, are you interested in seeing a bright future for Castle City? If so I'd like to explain to you Mr. Dotour's vision for a new-"

"Man, _FUCK_ Mr. Dotour!" Raven broke out, making Link jump with the boom of his voice, putting emphasis on the "f" in _fuck you_! A group of pizza people turned around, and a man smoking a cigarette on the nearby corner chuckled.

The woman winced; her eyes snapped open, and she began to stammer and laugh, wondering for a way out that was conceivably civil...Raven whirled around to Sheik. "Man, can you fuckin' believe this chick, Sheik? All tryin' t' get us to vote for _Mr. Dotour_? Of all fuckin' _people_?"

"Impertinence indeed," Sheik replied, stepping closer to lean on the stand and peer over the fliers. "How d'you feel about that, Raven?"

"Gets on _my_ fuckin' nerves, that's for sure," Raven replied, leaning on the stand likewise. "Y'know, people don't understand, but- heads get _twisted_, sometimes. You know, _twisted_."

"Heads'll be twisted- and of course, _blood_ takes no tallies," Sheik replied, his hand resting like a shadow on the white table cover, its color rough and exotic against the city plainness; as if it was some intrusive force, the poet's sword. "And who'll he call when the people rally? It's got nothing to do with the street."

The woman's eyes darted nervously to somebody nearby who appeared to be on the same campaign; but Raven just leaned forward. "_Hell yes_!" he bit, and her well-applied mascara and bargain blazer were nothing against his alligator's teeth. "So what does _this shit_ mean to me?"

There was a slight pause; the woman finally found the space to get a word in. "Hah-hah, but, gentlemen," she laughed smally, "Well, let's deal with this. What's the, ah, specific _problem_ you find with Mr. Dotour?" Link found it wondrous that she could still focus on doing her job, even through the blitzkrieg of words.

Raven leaned back. Sheik put his hand on his hip, the curve of his legs catlike against the dark. "Hell if I know," Raven answered, with a shrug. "I don't even know who the fuck Dotour _is_. But I'll tell you one thing," he continued- then leaning forward again, turned the small cardboard cutout of Dotour around to face her- and then, his eyes narrowed, darkened. "He has purple _hair_. That's already, like, a fuckin_' crime_ against humanity."

Link twitched; then, unable to help himself, let out a loud, ringing laugh- loaded with that silvery quality that made his laughter so irresistible. Sheik's eyes darted toward him, but he quickly diverted his gaze to the woman, whose world was probably imploding at that very moment. "Yes, how will he effectively run a city with purple hair?" he asked her, mildly. "He may as well be mentally impaired."

She said nothing. Link was trying to recover from his laughing fit to no avail, and the twins seemed to just shrug and sigh. Raven moved away from the stand. "Whatever. You fruitcakes ready to go?" he said, indicating his wristwatch. "I don't wanna miss the fuckin' drink special."

Link paused, and nodded; then fell into laughter again. Raven raised an eyebrow. "What the fuck's so funny? Come on, asshole."

The woman was shellshocked in her seat; but never mind _that_- they continued down the street, Link putting his arm around Sheik's shoulders as a crutch for his incapacitating laughter. Sheik looked up toward him, a curious in his eyes. Maybe he was about to say something, maybe not, but in any case Raven's rough voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey kid," he said, directing a criminal glance to Link. Link propped his head up, eyes like saying, "yes?" Raven shrugged into his corduroy jacket. "When we get to the place, wanna make some money?"

Link paused, wondering what _that_ meant. "Uh, sure," he responded, and slipped his arm off of Sheik as an afterthought.

Raven nodded as the street scenery passed by. Sheik eyes didn't seem to indicate any change, so Link figured it was okay. "Okay, I'll give you the cue when we're inside," Raven answered. "You know, that chick was kinna hot. She had that nervous energy goin' on- put _that_ shit to good use."

"Go back and get her phone number," Sheik said, with laughing eyes. Raven turned back to him and flattened his eyes in response. "You can discuss Mr. Dotour and then fall together in bliss at the end of the night."

"Hardy-har," Raven snapped.

The brick of the buildings was Brooklyn brown; like baby ducks, they fell into a line entering the narrow door of a flower shop. That thick sugar and anise perfume hung out, stretched lazily into the air, flooded Link's senses immediately. What were they doing here? He paused to wonder on that, but was distracted by a lily-of-the-valley, following half-mindedly behind, counting by the rhthym of Sheik's steps.

They blustered by the flowers and the old man at the counter gave them a surly stare, but none of them turned to him. There was a staircase at the back, hidden behind a fanning palm. They filed up the stairs, and passed a door into a place with low lights that smelled like coffee and perfume. The fixtures were all made of dark red wood; the place seemed relatively uncrowded. A chalkboard menu stood by the door, which Raven glanced at with lightning eyes before they continued. The place seemed mellow enough, and there was this nice, starry kind of light that breathed off of everything that Link liked. Amid the slight scratch of vague music, he could hear that hollow clattering noise of people playing pool...

"What's he do here anyway?" Link whispered to Sheik.

Sheik paused; then turned his eyes to Raven. "Watch," he replied, voice low, eyes cast over the scene.

Raven had become embroiled in a conversation with some waitress girl. "Fuck! Whaddyou _mean_ it's over?" he was saying to some girl incredulously. She said something to him in low tones. He nodded, then made a gesture of exasperation. "Well, how long's it been over?...Okay. Anybody leftover?...Point them out to me. No not with your hand dumbass, with your _eyes_. Okay. Okay. Thanks."

He trotted back over to the group, taking off his jacket and slinging it over his shoulder. "Okay, I'll be around, faggots." He looked at Link with a set light in his eyes. "I'll give you the cue, alright? So be nearby, and don't get fucking drunk or anything, cause it'll ruin it."

"Okay," Link nodded, smiling. "See you, then."

Raven disappeared, then, blended into the crowd seamlessly; and the Lauryn Hill brothers lurched off to do something else, go to the bar, maybe, or preach aimlessly. So under the shield of the low light it was just Sheik and Link again, back to square one and rushed into warmth. Outside, it was the windy train and double ecstasy- you could see it from the large windows.

"I'm thirsty," Link announced, looking baby blue around the open room, that particular searching dissatisfaction crossing his mouth like a gloomy kiss. A breath of breeze came in cold as a waitress opened a window nearby.

"Get something then," Sheik replied, making an urging gesture toward the bar.

"Yeah. But I don't know? I'm not in the mood to drink." He gave the bar a passing glance, then looked back to Sheik; backed up against air, thin and graceful, fooling around with the neon jukebox beside them.

Sheik looked back at him with a small amusement in his eyes; replied with warmth in his voice. "Coffee, then? Ask a waitress," he said, striking the right chord and knowing it.

"They have coffee?" Link replied with a spark, his face brightening like city moon immediately- Sheik laughed smally, knowing he'd turned the right key. "Sweet! That's like, exactly what I was in the mood for," he went on excitedly, looking for a waitress to commission, recruit to that end. His eyes looked happy and distracted; Sheik paused on his small success and then forgot about it just as quick, leaned against the wall as some baby retro song he'd chosen came into the room like telephone wires and industrial steel.

Link found his girl and asked for a cup of coffee- then turned to Sheik with a "you sure you don't want?"- and then the two were gone again. Waiting for sweetness- the outside breeze dark and full as it came through the window. The moments were rushed, filled with Link's happy chattering and a few half-brained wisecracks that ended in easy laughter...the girl came back with a wide-brimmed steaming cup, and Sheik made a small shadowy movement to get his wallet. Paid for _that_, and despite the odd look on her face she walked back toward a group of people who had called to her before...

Link tipped the cup up to his mouth; then winced and moved it away like it was persona non grata. "Jeez, that's hot," he said with a curve in his tone. He looked up to Sheik with the electricity of a thought in his eyes, and laughed starrily. "Ew, you know, people prolly think you're my pimp or something 'cause you're always paying for me."

Sheik's posture slackened on that thought; the look in his eyes hushed to low and smarting. "Ah,- that side of the road doesn't oblige me. Would I even make a good one?" he asked, something in his movements filled with the music.

Link grinned. "I think you'd be a good pimp- I don't think you'd take that much of my money," he answered.

"Well, keep on- if times ever come to that, you know who to call," Sheik replied, and Link saw the quirk of a smile in the riot red.

Link laughed back; but his eyes slowed to concern and the blue was smaller. "Are you okay with paying for me, though?" he asked, looking seriously toward Sheik.

Sheik's head quirked a bit. "I don't see why I shouldn't be," he replied, his voice warm- his posture changing, as though he was telling Link to go on.

"I just don't wanna be spending all your money and stuff," Link answered, mouth turning tentatively. "It wouldn't be fair."

"I'm not about to go into poverty any time soon," Sheik said, eyes lit and tone turning on a thought of humor; then he broke into a small laugh. "That is, as long as the papes stay at bay." Link laughed too, a bit confusedly, but there was still a pause in his manner. Sheik brushed the topic off with the look in his eyes. "Don't worry. As long as you keep your end, it should be fine," he said allowingly, with a warm gesture of the head.

There wasn't really any question about what "his end" meant- maybe looking back on things, there should have been. But it didn't matter to Link, he just gave a nod and a smile. He took a gulp of his coffee, then with the heat moving through his veins, moved so that he faced Sheik full-on- bright stars in his eyes and confidence on his mouth. "Okay," he nodded, then smiled- softly, Sheik noticed, with a cutting cross between boldness and sincerity. "If it's you, I don't think it'll be hard to do."

The words struck Sheik strangely; he scanned Link's face for cold traces of complicity, weakness- but couldn't find any. It was only a smile full of promises and a look in his eyes that said he'd keep them. Why had he even doubted it?- Link was as he usually was. He said things, and he meant them...

The moment of lightning and doubt and hints of rain was broken through by a sharp whistling sound, subtle and high-pitched like a dog whistle. The noises cut; both knowing that it was thrown in their direction, they turned. Raven was by the pool tables, holding a poolstick low by his hip, looking toward them like some criminal boss. Link's head quirked to the side, and Raven made a nodding gesture, giving him the signal with a slim expression.

"Oh! I guess I gotta go," Link said with a smile- his tone like it was some top-secret mission. He gave a small salute. "I'll see you, then!"

And he turned; on his heel, on that luck of movement that he had, went over to where Raven stood. Though time was passing quick and the scenery had changed, Sheik was still caught up in this funny impression- like he was seeing familiar ghosts in Link's words, in the way he walked...

He settled back against the window. In his veins, in his mind full of stars and paint, he could feel that it had started to rain outside. Cold rushed by. He wondered what this feeling meant- traveling through his blood like a storm of alcohol.

He exhaled; looked to all the world like some exotic soldier ready to go bombs bombs away, but his chaotic colors didn't quite match the low feeling in his mind. He watched as Raven was explaining something to Link, very methodically. His mind crashed, set to low. There was a crushing melancholy in his breathing- with a strange dark sweetness, like happiness in gloom blooming in his chest. He examined the scenery; Link's clean laugh filled the room with something light and happy...

The bells of Link's voice floated by his mind. The lights were still low but the neon of cars was cracking new colors inside. Suddenly it struck him, what Link's laughter reminded him of- he'd surmised that it was silvery, but it wasn't at all, it was amber effervescence that bubbled like gold morning rain. It cut through feelings and radiated to the ceiling- like champagne.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

There was a slight gray in the air, and this stillness that weighed down on Link, made his mouth turn unhappily as he dressed in the afternoon...He was running a little late- Sheik was going to pick him up so he could tag along with him until the night.

There was food, but he skipped out on eating, rushed out the door after seeing Sheik through the upstairs window. It was damp out, you could feel that in Sheik's movements, still smoky and vital but with a sudden lowness. Link opened the door; Sheik's eyes flashed a greeting and Link smiled as he buttoned up his shirt. "Hi! What's up? Eesh, it's cold out. What're we doing today again?"

"Going to the roadhouse, off to kill the moon," Sheik answered, eyes lit.

Link laughed and nodded in affirmation and Sheik continued with, "The empire's waiting," throwing his glance breathlessly to the street. Link was about to say something- but then his eyes became marked with curiosity, and he leaned forward, peering at Sheik. Sheik's limbs tensed in immediate reaction, but relaxed just as quickly- it was Link, after all...the expression on Link's face was soft. "Hey," he said, touching Sheik's hair a little bit, "was it raining?"

Sheik looked up at him curiously- a dark feeling rising into his mind. "It used to be," he answered, voice low.

"Huh. Weird, I didn't even notice. Then again I was pretty much sleeping the whole day," he laughed, fingers brushing lightly off Sheik's hair as he moved his hand away. "Sorry you got caught in it though..."

"It's nothing," Sheik replied. His words were careful as usual, masked the fact that he suddenly didn't know what else to say...

But then the feeling passed, and he disregarded it like storms rolling off some remote planet- irrelevant, passing. They continued: down avenues of streaming gray, through lights that cut through minds like rolling wheels...on the fringes- Sheik slim as a pickpocket, Link low between rain and sunshine, but the conversation was filled with a quiet contentment.

They got to the place maybe 10 or 15 minutes later...Sheik met his guy at a coffee stand in front of an alleyway. Link got a cup of coffee and waited for Sheik on the margins, taking an occasional open glance at the guy. He was probably half-Gerudo- he had that sharp nose, those lidded snake's eyes. The conversation was at its leisure but it was tense and something secret was being said, something that wasn't for everyday eyes. Link wondered at that maybe Sheik was some kind of drug lord or a crime boss or something...well, he already knew pimp was out of the question, so he pondered on why Sheik would be so rich as he looked out on the carnival street.

It hadn't even been 5 minutes, and yet the tone of the conversation closed up, wrapped up like a package to be sent; Sheik turned to Link with manic eyes lit, economy in his movements as his posture balanced strangely and he made a small gesture. "Let's be off then," he said, beginning to walk off.

There was a pause as the kiss of mist hung over the narrow city streets. "He's from the desert, too, right?" Link asked, catching up to Sheik.

"Mm-hm," Sheik answered, eyes ahead.

Link tipped his head back- downed a burning gulp of coffee, and flicked the cup into a corner garbage can with a wanton movement. They weren't going back the way they came...it didn't matter. "So," Link began, "is that how you make money?"

Sheik's eyes flicked to Link- "is that how you make money-" what a question. He chuckled slightly and looked over Link softly, with gentle eyes. "No-" he said, stopping on the word for effect; he brushed it off, cracked his bandaged knuckles. "As a child," he began. Link leaned in a little bit- there was something about the way Sheik said things that was magnetic, stayed in your mind, made you grasp for more when he stopped the rush of his words; seeing the reaction he knew he'd get, Sheik's eyes smiled, turned and shimmered. "I was raised with the thought that I was born into gold." He paused and waved it off. "My money's not new. It's a burden I've inherited."

When Sheik talked, it conjured colors, images; Link felt as though he knew what he was talking about even though he sort of didn't understand. He nodded. "But, but how'd your family make their money?" he interjected like a schoolkid, "Like what do they do?"

"Looking at me- what do you think they do?"

They stopped on the sidewalk. Sheik had felt the heat surge in his voice when he'd said it- so he could understand the look in Link's eyes, that slight surprise like he'd been burned. That dark feeling hummed through his limbs again as Link examined him, eyes weighing, washing over- eyes determined, but that blue was so lost...his mouth turned indecisively. "I donno," he finally said, hesitantly; he turned his head slightly. Sheik's weight shifted to the other hip. "Like, I don't think I could look at you and go, 'Oh, he's a musician,' or, 'oh, he's a student,'...or 'oh, he's the town's resident lazy dirty hobo.' Just kidding. I don't know, I think it's 'cause- you're nothing but you, I think. I guess to me, that's all you are."

Their eyes met- but Link's held nothing but a smile, and Sheik's could not abide by that. Something in his mind cracked, rivers of colors flowed seamlessly straight through his thoughts, but one was more apparent than the others...Link just shrugged and continued, and Sheik spoke with hesitance- as though he was saying something heavy, important, something he'd have to tread around to ask it right. "And you?...Where are you from? The country?" he asked, stepping in tandem with Link quickly.

Link paused, and then grinned, turning to Sheik with a laugh. "I guess so," he answered. He swung his arms at his sides. "The orphanage was in the country. It was like an hour by train to come here."

"You have no family?" Sheik replied, looking over Link wth curiosity.

"Nope," Link answered, stifling a yawn. "Never knew 'em. It was an orphanage run by women- the only guy was a priest of Nayru I think. They were pretty cool ladies- they let me get away with a lot."

Sheik paused in his thoughts. That would explain why Link was such an open person- why he didn't think twice about saying the things he said...Sheik had no reply, really, just gave a small nod and hum, turned as they continued. Rays of light were sifting shy through the clouds...

They both noticed that the construction noises they'd heard up the block had stopped. On a normal day, as the sun died away the scenery would be coated with gold; as it was, it was overcast and pearl gray.

But there was blue darkening abovehead. It wasn't clear weather either of them knew where they were going. The buildings got smaller, dissolved from cafes into law offices. To their left as they walked along was a- field, maybe, chainlink fenced and between buildings. The grass, the lights, paled around them.

"Wow!" Link exclaimed, fresh as a windy breath, and half-skipped-half-hopped onto the grass. "I didn't know there were even _places_ like this here."

Then he started taking off his shoes, and Sheik hung back by the concrete, mild and curious as to what Link was doing. Link flung a glance back at Sheik- then said, with light in his eyes, "I want to feel the dew," matter-of-factly. He smiled softly back at Sheik- and with words unsaid, Sheik felt a spark glimmer in his chest at the sight of Link smiling, cartwheeling windlessly, falling over and touching the grass...

Like a child, like nature's only son. Like stars and wind, misty candy almond in your mouth...Sheik leaned back on nothing, didn't have a place to fall. Now that he thought of it (now that he paused in his constant stream of toxic thought-creation to reflect on it), Link gave him this feeling of loneliness- the sheer knowledge of being alone, but there was something dulcet about the feeling...

Why did he even trust Link? Or, why did he like him so much? Maybe it was that Link was free, but it wasn't quite that. It wasn't even that he was generally innocent, or that he was always looking out for other people. It was more in that he was lonely ultrafox, between worlds of right and wrong- more in the way his eyes turned thoughtful, rainy, more in the way he laughed. Or something like that, maybe it was even the things he said, or his general attitude, the way he understood the world...

Or maybe it was just Sheik being selfish, looking for a new friend, latching onto somebody who'd put up with him. The nerves in his arms stretched and vibrated- guitar chords striking, saying something under the breath of the sun air. He clutched at nothing as though it was his heart; Link attempted some kind of flip or another, then yelled back to Sheik that it was nice in the field, maybe he should join him. For a moment, a real strange moment, there was a dark voice across his eyes- and he felt for sure that he was doomed. But anyway, there was warmth in his movements as he leaned over swift and graceful to pick up Link's shoes from their scattered places on the concrete.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

"Dude," was said by the trashcan alleys; Raven's voice in what was unusual for Raven- something like panic. "Dude, I don't know...that chick- she came out the other day- she's a fuckin' _lesbian_."

"So what she's a lesbian?" Princess laughed lightly, thwacking him playfully on the arm.

"What the fuck do you mean, so what! How the fuck am I s'posed to _talk_ to her?" Raven barked, the rising tones of his voice obviously worried.

Princess rolled her eyes with a smile. "Just talk to her like you talk to Zelda, Raven."

Raven stared at her flatly, blinked in silence. "Was that supposed to be fuckin' funny?" he scoffed. "She ain't no fuckin' Zelda, that's for sure. Oi, when's that girl comin' back anyway?" he asked, pivoting wildly and throwing a glance back to Sheik. "You tell her to get her ass back in the city when you talk to her next."

"She'll rush to see you," Sheik replied, eyes light with humor.

Raven rolled his eyes; then gave a measured look to Link. "Zelda's real fucking fun," he said, "At first I was kinda like, eh, the whole princess thing, she's prolly all lady-lady and Queen Mother and shit- but she turned out to be real cool."

"Everyone likes Zelda," Princess added, with just a _hint_ of vitriol in the levity of her voice.

"Least she's not a fuckin' lesbian," Raven replied, biting.

Princess laughed again. "What's wrong with being a lesbian, though? There's nothing wrong with that."

"Oi, Sheik, what's wrong with being a lesbian?" Raven asked over his shoulder, then turned to Link. "I'm not gonna ask you, Mother Teresa."

"The arithmetic of the thing is off," Sheik answered, that manic tilt to his voice.

Raven broke out into a loud laugh that had people on the street looking toward him. "The arithmetic, he sez- that's fuckin' good, I gotta use that one," he answered. Link grinned, was vaguely aware of Princess smiling back at him; but instead, decreased the pace of his footsteps and fell behind with Sheik.

They shared a smile of confidants; Raven's voice broke through it. "Sheik, lemme bum a smoke?"

Sheik paused, then moved slightly, got out a small box with a liquid movement- pulled out a thin brown cigarette and his lighter. "And what's wrong, Raven? Declaring insolvency?" he asked, holding the lighter as Raven drew a breath in.

Smoke rose and twisted; Raven's expression tightened a bit on the first drag, and then he brought the cigarette down. "Your mother," he replied, turning to walk again. "Thanks."

"Raven's a beggar," Link taunted, with a light laugh.

"Hey, I wouldn't be talkin', you're basically a fuckin' hobosexual," Raven spat. "Walkin' 'round this town without a dollar to ya name- what the Hell are you even thinking, kid?"

"A cripple, too," Sheik joined, looking at Link, "You forgot that he's a cripple."

"A cripple _and_ a beggar, Raven? Jeez, there's really no hope," Link answered, with a lost sigh. Sheik's eyes ran along with the joke, laughter at their corners.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, fucking gang up on me. That's fuckin' nice. Fruitcakes."

"That's something a cripple would say," Sheik replied, voice like a whip to a horse.

"Yeah, I'm starting to worry," Link said.

"Whatever, whatever," Raven answered, taking a long drag- looking like a weary crime lord to anybody looking on. "At least I'm not...Hello fucking Kitty."

Link paused- then laughed; Sheik listened to the sound like it was church bells, though his eyes didn't betray that. "Did you just call me Hello Kitty?"

"Yer damn straight I called you Hello fucking Kitty."

"Her name's not Hello Fucking Kitty," Sheik piped up, as though he was reminding Raven of the name of a person they actually knew.

"Oh, excuse me, Hello _Mother_fucking Kitty."

"That's more like it," Sheik answered, looking off to the street. "We'd do best to mind the venom- it's poison from the street."

"Ooh, look, Choctoroks!" Link chimed, pulling out a quick coin and handing it to a nearby Gerudo kid selling candy from a cardboard box. He ripped off the wrapper crudely, stuffed it in his pocket and snapped off a chocolate piece.

Princess had been watching it all from the sidelines with an occasional laugh- but now she shook her head, with that "boys will be boys" smile on her rose mouth. "You guys are so ridiculous," she said, with a slight laugh.

Link turned his thoughtful eyes to her; chewed over some chocolate, then with a small boyish gesture offered her a piece. She looked surprised for a moment, then a smile came into her eyes and she gingerly broke off a piece for herself. She looked up at him, and they shared a small laugh...

There was a pause in Sheik's thoughts when he saw the way she looked at Link- just a very small pause, only seconds long- and a flare of color across his black eye, in the back of his mind. But the thought only lasted for a moment, and its words were too quick and incoherent, so he disregarded it- turned from them and to the cars across the street.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The music was a pulse- the vibrations to back the king colors that cascaded from the ceiling. Came like an electric empire into the room. There was madness all around. Everybody was some kind of gutter royalty, acting on the foundation of their money.

There were only a few excluded from this classless rule, and they were mostly with Link as he sat chatting and smiling by the back walls. Sheik was nearby- like he usually was- slim and subtle, standing as though he was disconnected from it all. Princess was already drunk, and Raven was well on his way..."Holy fuck," Raven bit, coming momentarily back to Earth from Planet Vodka, "See that? That fuckin' writer's tryina fuck Iza!"

Over by a luckless railing, the writer (blonde and anonymous) was talking sweet to this chick called Iza, with big hair and a deep pout. Princess burst into exaggerated laughter and clung onto the wall, commenting on how nicely the room was moving. Link noticed an idea seemed to cross Sheik's eyes, or not- it was always hard to tell with Sheik.

"'Ey you," Raven snapped, looking at Link with hard eyes, "Why aren't you drinkin'?"

Link paused, blinking confusedly. "Oh, I'm just not, I guess."

"'Just not'," Raven repeated, deadpan; then turned his eyes slimly to Sheik. "Hey, hit me up, huh? Anyway, you oughta join in- this one here's already ready to fuck all of us at once," he continued, speaking lewdness with fluid ease, pointing to Princess with his thumb.

She giggled a little, her gray eyes dulling; "I only want him, tho'," she laughed, pointing crudely to Link. Sheik was getting out a cigarette for Raven- felt his fingers twitch, the blood concentrate for a moment...

"Hear that? She wants your stupid ass, for some fuckin' reason."

"She's drunk though," Link laughed, "I don't think she means it." He was about to say something to the effect of, "Right, Sheik?" but Sheik wasn't paying attention- had his head turned, a heavy look in his eyes.

"Oi, Sheik, you cretin, my cigarette," Raven commanded brusquely.

Sheik's eyes turned back to them quickly- but the light in them was mysterious and vague. "Ah- I hadn't noticed, Raven," he said, with a particular tone.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Aw come _on_."

"It had slipped my mind," Sheik replied, pivoting on his heel to turn back to them.

"...Please," Raven said, rolling his eyes.

Sheik let out a hoarse laugh, dark and seismic- a certain gloomy quality that flowers had. "Don't spend it all in one place," he said, handing it to Raven with a light movement. Link laughed, happy to see that Sheik was back in a good mood.

"Fuck you," Raven sneered, snatching it from Sheik's hand. He leaned forward into the flash of flame from Sheik's black lighter; sucked in, then gave an alligator smile, smoke crawling, rising, from between his teeth. "Thanks. Man, what the fuck's he fuckin' with Iza for? That chick's a fuckin' nag for real- not to mention she has the IQ of a fucking coffee can."

Link and Princess laughed- but Sheik seemed to be brewing in a thought. "The Pythagorean theory is next to useless," he began, voice filled with dark laughter.

"Pythagoras is a dirty whore," Raven snapped, throwing his head back and downing the rest of his drink.

"-and when it comes down to action, so is the theory of probability," Sheik continued, beginning to step. "Well, come on then, Link," he said, gesturing over his back.

Link sprung up to his feet with a clumsy logic, waving shortly to Princess and Raven. Raven just nodded and Princess beamed, face flush red with drink. Link fell into step with Sheik- wondering what he was up to now. "Why did you say that stuff was useless?" Link asked curiously. He actually didn't know what either were- if he had learned it he had forgotten it already...

Sheik looked to him curiously. "They're lies for safety," he answered. Link paused, thinking on that. "It exists abstractly- strictly in some distant realm. Of course," he continued, laughing a little, "_Shad_ would tell you otherwise."

Link laughed- Sheik was always picking on Shad for some reason: if something struck Sheik a certain way, he'd say something like "Shad would think that." Maybe it was 'cause Shad had glasses...no, that was stupid- Link let out a laugh at the stupidity of that thought.

"What's wrong?" Sheik asked- something in him tensing at Link's laughter- something like anxiety, constricting like that feeling of waiting...

"Oh, nothing," Link answered through his laughter, putting a hand on Sheik's shoulder.

Sheik felt a pressure in his head for a moment- had words on his tongue, but movements nearby caught his attention. "Ah, look," he said, nodding straight ahead.

Link craned his head to look over the crowd, his hand slipping off Sheik's shoulder; the writer was walking casually, alone, toward the bathroom. "Oh, him," Link said, with a pause. Usually Sheik wouldn't mention somebody without a specific reason. He looked back toward him, wondering what was up. "He's going to the bathroom?"

Sheik nodded; then after a spot of silence, said with a slow relish- "Iza went before him."

Link's face broke out into a _grin_. He laughed a little. "Scandalous," he said, knowing immediately what was going down.

"Perhaps a coincidence," Sheik hummed, looking mildly toward the small alcove before the bathroom; then, after a moment, their eyes slowly slipped and met with the same sneaking intent. Sheik's eyes turned casual and cool. "Do you have to use the bathroom?"

"Suddenly, really badly," Link grinned, as their steps became quicker.

"You're a hero after all," Sheik responded mildly. The look in his eyes was slim- like he was just some passer-by, like it was just a scene to check out.

"Right, we have to stop wrongdoing in the world," Link agreed with a nod- tried with some difficulty to mask the smile on his face, but had to let out a quick laugh before doing that...went to open the bathroom door, but before he could, Sheik's arm shot out- stopped Link's hand midway. Link looked toward him curiously.

"A moment," Sheik said, fingers brushing over Link's. Link trusted Sheik's judgment with this kinda stuff (whatever "this kinda stuff" even implied- if it meant walking in on bathroom sex, so be it)...it went unnoticed that Sheik's hand lingered for a moment- between cold atoms, sparks of warmth, slight touch- the nagging feeling of contact...

Yeah, it went ignored; after a couple of seconds, Sheik's eyes gave to okay, and Link pushed the door open brusquely, beginning to talk about the current election in an obnoxious voice, as though they were continuing a conversation...at the end of the bathroom- by the last stall, but not quite committed yet- Iza and the writer were caught between pieces of flustered conversation and heavy, lost kissing- but at the recognition of Link's voice, they both jumped like _electricity_, both straightened _immediately_. The writer's hand lingered over hers, and with hard eyes she _smacked_ it away, half-hiding herself behind the stall.

Sheik and Link gave no signs of even seeing them- but Sheik kept watch out of his peripherals (Link was way too obvious to do that), and his eyes seemed to inform Link of what was going on. Link had to strain to keep from laughing- took a quick leak at one of the urinals as Sheik made origami stars from the bathroom paper towel...Sheik subtly gave the signal for Link to really fucking take his time washing his hands- from the mirror above the sink, they could see Iza and the writer _twitching_ with anxiety, impatience...their postures tensed, centered around the ticking in their spines...

Link kept on talking about the election- as though somebody like him would _really_ be interested in politics- and Sheik responded enthusiastically. Then, on the way out, the tension in the air seemed to breath away, be lost in relief- until Link and Sheik doubled back, with those pleasantly surprised "Oh, hey there, neighbor! Let's have an hour-long conversation!" looks in their eyes. "Oh! Hi, I didn't know you were here!" Link exclaimed, waving to the writer enthusiastically.

The look on the writer's face just physically _dropped_ like metal and gravity- his eyes became nervous. "Oh, yeah! She was sick, so I was pulling, pulling her hair back," he explained quickly, eyes moving over to indicate her.

"Ah, is that so?" Sheik replied, looking toward her considerately. She bristled at the look in Sheik's eyes- vague, but with just the _implication_ of a laugh...

"Oh, really? That sucks," Link said, frowning small, "Are you okay now?"

"Yes, yes," she replied, with acid in her voice, "It's fine. I'm fine. I think I just need some quiet. I'm- noise-sensitive."

"She's noise-sensitive," the writer interjected like it was world-fucking-knowledge.

"How terrible," Sheik replied.

"Yeah, that's really bad- well, we'll be going then I guess- catch you two later!" Link said, beginning to walk away from them.

All the sparks seemed to vanish and wash away from their eyes- they seemed like puppets on a string, once taut and now slackened, under the control of two young kids looking for a laugh. "Avoid citric acid," Sheik advised, turning back as Link opened the door.

"Yes! Thank you!"

"Try some soup!" Link said, as Sheik went past him with a small "thank you..." Then, much to the couple's relief- they were gone, beyond the door- leaving them to the world of secrets that couples share.

The cluttered sounds of electricity and music, laughter and tears, flooded back around them- Link looked at Sheik and broke out into hopeless laughter. Sheik's eyes seemed to smirk; he leaned against the wall beside the door. "Man," Link said- then fell into laughing again; Sheik closed his eyes, just listened for a moment..."Man, that was funny- did you _see_ the look on his face? Oh God...I'm kinda sorry for doing that, but- hahahaha, that was so hilarious! And she _smacked_ him!"

Sheik cracked an eye open. "'She's noise-sensitive'," he repeated.

Link nodded through his laughter, then started to walk beyond the alcove and back to the main room. "Holy crap, that was funny..."

The two exchanged a knowing glance. Link slid up on the wall next to Sheik, pressed against as though it was a covert operation. "How long this time?"

"A minute or two," Sheik answered; then flashed his eyes up to Link, an idea passing into them with red brilliance. "After a pause, the senses rush; the cold envelopes, and movement becomes hurried- once you've known it, you can't forget it."

Link cocked his head curiously. "What's that? A poem? You should be a poet, Sheik," he said, nodding with complete seriousness.

Sheik's eyes quirked a little. "A poet? Poetry is in the veins- ink's no use," he mused; then his posture relaxed a bit, and he looked toward the door. "Moon clouds the eyes, but sun shots are in the senses. The strength of feeling floods the blood- there are scenes only couples know. That's poetry, I suppose."

Link smiled a little. "And you said you didn't know anything about love," he said, giving Sheik a slight nudge.

Sheik chuckled. "I'm talking of sex," he said, with a slight amusement.

Link's eyes brightened, and he gave a small laugh. "Sex," he said, "can be love too."

That tense feeling rushed back to him- into his mind, that darkness behind his eyes that flushed in smoke and blood pink. "I- I know," Sheik answered, suddenly ineloquent.

Link didn't notice the change; instead his smile turned a truer shade, and he looked past Sheik and to the door. "Do you think--?"

Sheik brushed the feeling off by the force of his festival mind, and nodded. "It should be," he said, moving off the wall with a cool feline movement, walking with confidence ahead of Link...

No ceremonies this time- they just _busted _through the door- pushed it with such a rough energy that it _banged_ against the cheap walls as it opened. A lustful cry was interrupted by mingled sounds of panic; Sheik began an improvised conversation with Link there was a dull thunking sound from the bathroom stall. Did the girl fall?...Yeah, she fell, her sex kitten heel had slipped off and she'd stumbled, untangling her legs from around his hips- he moved likewise with a clumsy movement- "You bit me, you fucking idiot!" she yelled, smacking him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It was because-" he started...

"Shut up!" She pushed past him and poked her head out the stall, her hair obscuring his figure...

There was a calm moment before the fury of her eyes came like smoke between her and the two at the door. "Sheik!" she snapped, "You fucking asshole!"

"Wait, hold on, I'll take care of it," the writer pleaded, pulling her back into the stall.

Link looked at Sheik. "Why only you?" he asked, curiously.

"I could say that she doesn't know your name," Sheik responded, then shrugged; "I could also say that's the general attitude toward me."

"You guys! What's going on! Why are you _here_?" the writer asked, exasperatedly.

Sheik and Link exchanged a quick glance. "We were worried," Sheik began, "for her health."

"Yep yep," Link joined, with a wide grin, "There are crackers outside."

The writer's desperate eyes turned up a shade. "Oh come on!" he answered, exasperatedly, "Come on, you guys gotta go, you _gotta_-"

"Alright, alright," Sheik nodded calmly, "Just make sure she gets plenty of rest-"

"And that she gets three square meals a day," Link said, as the writer walked them to the door.

"And that she brushes her teeth at least two times a day- that's very important," Sheik responded, as the three stepped out the door.

"Also, always ask her how her day at school was, 'cause otherwise she'll think you don't care about her," Link said, holding up a finger as though it was a very crucial issue.

"And develop a self-confidence issue and possibly bulimia," Sheik continued.

The writer stopped at the door- backed up against it like some manic raccoon protecting his territory. "Okay, okay," he said, even laughing a little at their small tangent; but there wasn't anything humorous in his voice. "And _please_ don't come back in," he pleaded.

Sheik's eyes smiled. "Why?" Link asked, innocently.

"'Cause- 'cause I'm tryina bang this chick!" he said, finally letting the cat out of the bag, waving his arms in a frantic movement. He ignored their sudden bursts of laughter and hurried back inside, slamming the door as he went.

Link was too thrown into laughter to even _comment_ on what had just happened (though he did make a small compliment on Sheik's "and make sure she brushes her teeth" comment- to which Sheik replied, "Why thank you, fine Sir")- his sides _split _in aching, his laughter distracting...people looked over, wondering what the action was, and if they could get in on it- but it was just Angel Down and Shadow Slim laughing to the dawn on some immaculate in-joke.

"Jeez," Link broke out, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, "That was _great_- I never knew a bathroom could be so fun-"

Sheik laughed a little bit- it was hard to ignore the way Link said things, with such a simple, childish logic. He leaned against the wall near the door, thinking of the images that passed through his mind- with paint rapidity, a message low beneath the reality sounds...Link began to walk, touching Sheik's arm slightly as he passed him. "Let's go outside," he suggested, his movements light, "That bathroom smelled like dead cheese."

Sheik paused, then nodded- to himself, maybe; then followed behind Link...passing the same old scenes, the same old vacuum of nonsense that was always beyond their circle as they moved through the world. The same dream feeling that rushed by the end of the night...

And again a strange feeling took hold of Sheik, but this time there was more sweetness in his mind than anything, coupled with an electric energy that made him hungry for the night...the sidewalk was quiet. Only a few guys with alligator eyes stood around, having a smoke- but otherwise there were windmill colors singing from the all-night restaurants and a smoky haze drifting down the block...

"Wow, look!" Link exclaimed, stopping in his tracks and pointing upwards. Sheik raised his eyebrows, looked at the sky- the moon was low in the sky, theater red with splotches of gold- it gave an emperor's light- and tonight the stars were bright, diamonds from the night...

Lotsa other nights were starless in Castle City. Link paused and reflected on the luck of finding stars, and Sheik observed the colors quietly.

"The red moon means bloodshed," he said, the words out of his mouth like war; Link looked back to him distractedly. Sheik's balance drifted, his voice was light. "It's bad blood in the air. Criminals lurk police red on a full moon night; tiger's eye is good for protection."

Link smiled broadly, moving closer to Sheik. "You're in a good mood."

Sheik laughed a little. "A good mood is relative. Whether or not I'm in a good mood- depends on the movement of the stars, I suppose," he said, pointing up a little. Link listened intently. "My ruling planet is Pluto- and a social planet is Jupiter, and so you have to work the math."

Link paused. "How did people figure that stuff out anyway? Like what planet governs which trait, and like- what kind of people or born at a certain time?" he asked, turning his head slightly. "Was it just observations people made?"

Sheik's eyes flashed; he paused, though, and words came gradually. "People feel that some things are uncertain- mystery is a fact of life," he started; then thought. He leaned in closer to Link; was uncertain of the feeling of judgment in his chest, but decided to prop his arm up on Link's shoulder anyway, to lean closer and to see his eyes for what they really were. Link blinked in confusion- Sheik wasn't really a physical type of person, or at least he hadn't seen that side of him..."There is a pulsation in the air that shoots into your blood- science to an extent is irrelevant next to feelings. You _feel_ that you may be born under a bad sign- you may be luckless, loveless; there is darkness in the heart- lovers in the morning." He paused, and there was a small laughter from his throat that put Link at ease. "There are carnivals on the stars," he finished, with his eyes thrown into that manic light that Link knew well.

Link smiled and nodded, and knew that Sheik was right- even if not technically, in a more important way.

At the end of the day, Shad showed up (like a superhero from out of nowhere, only apparating when people were in dire need of assistance- or at least when 1/2 of your group was drunk and needed to get home) and drove them all home. The car pulled up to the darkened street, to the lost azaleas in front of where Link lived. Ending the night, he was absolutely certain that he knew why he liked Sheik.

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_A/N_: Stay tuned! Thanks for reading!


	4. Part 1: 4

_A/N_: Fixed some typos that were off-putting before; accidentally had uploaded the raw version. Sorry bout that. And, a review!

**Review Response**

_HumanRiot_- That's true; for some reason Zelda doesn't really take well to AUness...oh, the choctoroks XD Glad you liked that- _I_ thought it was funny, but my friend called me a psychopath for writing that. Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing & I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Fall air was white and crisp with the knife edge of avalanche sun; breathed cool into the windows on the honey morning when Link woke up...woke up, shaking off the impressions of some dream, walking out of the impossible realm like a zombie...then after a few sleepy moments, the realization hit him that- he'd forgotten his hat in the car last night...

A tiny depression sank into his shoulders as he got up and dressed- same kinda melodramatic depression hits a kid when he loses his favorite toy or something. He actually liked that hat- it looked kind of like a sleeping cap, and he wore it so that it fit over the back of his head. The first time he'd worn it, Sheik had looked at him as though remembering something, and just said, "Nice hat."

He didn't wear it that much, but still...he discussed his problem with some people who told him he should call his friends and ask around. That was a good idea which should have been obvious...anyway, to that end he got the phone and called up Sheik- he didn't have Shad or Princess' number, and last time he called Raven before 1 he got a tongue-lashing. Sheik was probably awake though- did Sheik ever sleep? he wondered, looking around the room with spacey eyes. He seemed to be up at all hours- biding his energy like a snake or something...

He actually had no idea how Sheik lived, aside from when they were together- that was okay, he guessed. Surprisingly, Sheik did have his hat. They talked a bit, exchanged a joke or two, got down to business and decided on a place to meet.

So he finished up some chores around the house, cleaned up all the remnants of a previous mind- walked into the early afternoon. Outside it was clear as a picture, had this blinding clarity...struck like neon. And down the streets of silent dreams, down the lanes of impression he walked on, one sole innocent on the street of poisoned people...goldwire spun in his heart and mind: some high school girls giggled as he passed, playing empty songs that struck him funny...

But it didn't matter. He met Sheik on an open street- each regarded the other with tepid familiarity, with a cagey warmth. Sheik looked as usual like he belonged to the night, was its only subject, therefore its leader; his eyes were bright, riot red, but were lidded sleepy. He regarded Link's hat like it was a strange artifact; then held it up with a mild look in his eyes. "You were drunk on night," he greeted, voice soft and fluid, "Your hat was upset; jealous, and so stayed behind, told me all about it."

Link laughed and took his hat, slung it over his shoulder. "Was it? Well, that's what it gets for being such a nag," he mused; then looked at Sheik with that low confidence in his eyes..."So? Whachya doin'? How are you?"

Link's questions were asked like a schoolkid's, something light hidden behind the movements of his tongue. Sheik had been feeling strangely lately, but Link couldn't tell; he shifted his balance and sighed to the street. "Fine, I suppose. There have been changes in the air; the currents aren't quite the same." He lowered his eyes, then flashed them toward Link. "'I' is another*, but _I_ am the general,- the ancient eyes seem to be perceiving...how are you?"

Link's eyes brightened with thought, became softer with light; he smiled, shoved his hands down in his jean pockets. "I'm good. I'm kinda hungry.- Do you really feel that way?"

"What way?"

"'I' is another."

Sheik's eyes seemed to smile up at him. "Sometimes," he said- the word became like rain and music, molded by the liquid darkness of his voice- and the response was sad, but it had hints of a fire.

Link looked at Sheik for a moment, unaware of the silence- wondered vaguely if it was that way, if Sheik's life was just a series of masks, of different hearts. It was hard to tell with Sheik. Sheik could be everything and nothing all at once- he could be part of the world and just as easily slip out of it, gone like yesterday. Link hoped that Sheik wasn't just some shadow, it didn't seem that way to him...

But the slimness of Link's eyes over him- crashed like paint, like the beating of ocean waves, caused something dark to flare inside Sheik's mind; he eyelessly brushed off the feeling, froze it over and pushed it off to some dark corner. He was about to say something- got out the tangled syllable, "Wha-", but Link spoke before he did.

"I don't know if I've ever felt that way," Link mused, with a smile that just mixed up Sheik's impressions, "I don't think I have, but it sounds familiar. Weird, huh?"

Sheik paused- cat's eyes on the coin. "Not at all- that's the brand of understanding."

"That doesn't sound good," Link answered with an easy laugh.

Sheik's eyes took on that soft look- like the gentle hands of storms, like the radio signal from some long-off distant place. Warmth in his voice, as well. "It's not," he replied, "and yet it is. The world is strange, hm?"

"Yep yep," Link nodded, "But I'd rather understand than walk asleep."

"That's a good way of putting it," Sheik nodded, eyes for pride; but then he felt the turning of the earth, felt the sun like a wristwatch, and kicked at some pebbles on the sidewalk as they talked. "Where will you be tonight?"

Link's eyes turned thoughtfully toward the sky. "Uhh, I don't know- where are you gonna be?" He paused, then grinned. "Not that I'm trying to hit on you or anything."

"I'm sure," Sheik replied, with an easy confidence that made Link laugh. "Most likely, I'll be with Raven. There's a place downtown- I'll give you the address, if you'd like."

"Oh, uh, sure," Link answered, confused as to why Sheik was offering the address- wouldn't they go together?

They spent ten minutes or so looking for some paper to write on; settled on the back of a religious propaganda flier blowing on the sidewalk like a forgotten army. Sheik wrote down the address in dark blue; then, his posture poised and slim, he shifted back. "Well, I'll see you tonight," he said, looking up toward Link-

-whose mouth turned in a cross between rainy blue and confusion. "See you tonight?" What did _that_ mean? "Hey, wait, where're you going?" Link asked, the blue fading into a bright smile.

Sheik's balance teetered as he half-turned away from Link, a curious expression passing into his eyes. "-I'm going home," he said, the tone of his voice slightly amused.

Link paused- he had never been in Sheik's house before; Sheik had never even mentioned that he _had_ a house, so Link pretty much thought it was safe to assume that that was something Sheik was keeping off-limits, private. He knew Sheik was a reserved person, so he didn't want to be pushy...but still, damn, he had to spend the rest of the afternoon being epically _bored_..."Oh, okay- catchya later then," he said, concluding the conversation with a short wave.

Something in Sheik constricted- like the tightening of fists- that dark way you take inventory of the rain. It was a blinding realization, that there was so much doubt still clutching, grasping. That he had to keep reminding himself that it was only Link...but was it? And what would he owe him, what subtle lines would change shape? Was he just being dramatic, did it really matter?-

Link seemed to notice the strange lean of Sheik's posture, that movement as if to say "wait"; so he lingered on, looking at Sheik curiously. Sheik could feel nervousness clamor into his throat (and that premonition crossing his mind again- those dark words that were rushed and murmured, but bore the heaviness of "well, you're fucked now"), but it came easily when he said, "You can come along, if you'd like."

Link paused; then his face brightened to a grin. "Seriously!?" he exclaimed, moving toward Sheik with blind puppy excitement. "Like, you don't mind?"

"It's fine," Sheik answered, giving that short dismissive gesture of a Roman consul- slight weary wave of the hand.

"Are you sure? I don't wanna be a burden or anything," Link said as he stepped in tandem with Sheik; they started off in the direction of the harbor, away from the cloister and the downtown grit.

"You won't be," Sheik responded, taking measure of his tone- eyes flashing to the street as they walked along.

Link paused; then let out a laugh- sound sliding slight between his teeth. "'Cause y'know," he began, looking at Sheik directly, "I don't wanna go to your house and like, find your gramma locked up in your attic or anything."

"It's fine- her cage is in the parlor, so no worries," Sheik answered, voice sliding off effortless laughter, even though none was audible. The sun had been white before; but now the cold was dying down, was shifting into soft folds of gold, the layers of the cosmic air...and anyway, the sound waves of Link's laughter hopped off the nearby buildings, caught a spell, pervaded over the area...

It seemed like signals of water were kissing mist into the air. The streets were barren, devoid of green, but laid down low with the gun seduction of the sudden warmth. "What? It got all hot all of a sudden," Link remarked, sticking out his tongue with dissatisfaction.

"It's a mask," Sheik responded, panther beat in his steps as he walked ahead of Link; "Criminals kiss on the sly when the air is too thick to see through. It's a way to hide."

Link turned to Sheik, looking to say something, eyes bright on thought; but Shek's eyes were turned away, and he was heading off in some separate direction- leading the way, like he should. An electric cosmic trail along the nameless concrete. Some guys were talking by a news stand (the last stand of the city, Link guessed): "Yeah, yeah- Darmani's new girl is beautiful, beautiful!"

"Is she?"

"Yeah,- heh, pretty as the Princess!"

-But they faded out of earshot, and construction trucks were speeding down the road, obscuring the winking laughs. The streets here were peaceful, Link noticed- not too much traffic, and the only people outside had someplace worthwhile to go to. Every color faded back to nature, and there wasn't that much smog.

The lots were empty- most of them had nothing built on them, so there was considerable space between the houses. There were bits of foliage, hedges in box things and pattern-planted trees, so it started to look a bit like a suburb (would've looked like one, if not for the metal pale undercurrent of industry that was a song in the breeze here; also, the factory across the river).

They came near to a two-family ranch, kinda small and nondescript looking- painted stucco, two small concrete porches; there were flowers under the windows on the side that faced them. Sheik began up the stairs of the porch, Link following behind him, spun up in a strange impression- Sheik lived here?...something about it struck him funny...

Sheik got out a key and Link made some lame forgettable joke as the door clicked open...Sheik replied, and Link poked his head inside the door before going in, taking a look that was ineffective for the blindness of his perception. With an eager step he started in, but an older lady was heading out, so they stopped short in the foyer by the door.

She and Sheik exchanged a few words- talked politely and with a tacit vocabulary, both knew what the other was saying and beyond necessities time didn't have to be wasted. They seemed to regard each other with patience. Link wondered who she was- his aunt or something? Definitely couldn't be his mother...

The woman greeted Link formally and went out the door. "Should I take off my shoes?-" Link asked, hit by a sudden feeling...there was something strange about the house, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Hmm? If you'd like," Sheik responded, tone mild, cracking his knuckles absently. Sheik was good with shadows, was good with ink and veils- you couldn't see the edginess he was felt even though it was compact, tensing within his veins...he was sure Link couldn't notice, anyway. Like pointed lightning, like dark lashing off water...

"Who was that lady, by the way?" Link asked as he pushed off his shoes- he didn't hesitate to ask that. Usually he would pause before asking Sheik anything personal.

"The maid," Sheik answered, walking ahead of him- the only place you could see the edge was in the swing of his walk; his movements were strange- mixing tenseness with a warm, comfortable way of moving.

Link followed behind; the first thing that caught his eye was the whiskey dull of an upright piano a little past the foyer, spinning a clean feeling off its colors...something antique: antique in that it came from some industrial baby era, without florid carvings or metal bomb. It was next to a potted plant, the sun slanted like a knife off a window nearby...

And then the small hall opened into a large room. The walls were still stucco- painted dark Southern blue...this was a living room maybe? There was a couch and some things scattered around, then after a divider across the way a small kitchen, breathing a quiet song with its sun and scents...there was sun all over this room: it hung in the air, it clarified the corners of the room and lent strange shapes to shadows. A table was the nearest thing...

It seemed at once crowded and empty- seemed like it was open and cluttered at the same time, like there were lots of things but they didn't intrude on mass or matter. It seemed like this was a place you could breathe, like you could move easy in here, not have to worry. There were some plants around- things that were subtle and exotic, touched the air delicately. Primary colors were subtly exploding, blues, reds, yellows...the windows were pretty big- had small spaces under them you could sit in. Under one of the windows was all these soda cans, colored bottles; flowers in them, sitting fresh among the sugar and the logos- light cast off their faces...

Made flower song, was the life of flowers. Link blinked openly at the room before him. "Wow," he said, his tone with awe and seriousness, "This is really nice, Sheik."

Sheik let off a hoarse chuckle. "Glad it's to your liking," he said, blood skipping a beat as he was put a little at ease.

"This is like, what a home _should_ be," Link said, wandering into the room, looking at the things on the bookshelves and the pieces of mail on the coffee table like it was nobody's business. "It's so clean! I wanna live here." He sent a flashing glance back at Sheik, a young smirk (wherein the devil and an angel shone smokey through the white). "How much for rent?"

"Your soul once a month should pay the dues," Sheik responded, the beat of the syllables in that certain timing, like he was reciting an infomercial.

Link laughed, orange juice blues. "How would that work out?" he asked, plopping himself down on a cursory lounge without inhibitions.

"Hm, we'd have to work that out," Sheik responded, but looked away as though seeing burned him, because somewhere in a dark feeling he _knew_ how that would work out. And it was frustrating, because although he knew, words didn't shape the thought, it just burned dark cherry, smoked and flared; and he wasn't used to feeling this way.

Link looked at the tiles on the ceiling- almost imperceptible, the lines between were sharply hidden- stretched out a little, then lay supine. "Are you thirsty?" Sheik asked, moving into the kitchen with some mail in hand.

"Nah, I'm okay," Link called back. There was rustling; he closed his eyes, felt sleepy in the sudden sticky honey warmth...Sheik opened the fridge, poured himself a drink- pulled down his mask a little with his back turned to Link, took a long gulp and tossed the glass into the sink. Put the mask back up, then headed back to the living room.

Link rolled over on his side when Sheik came back into the room, propping up his elbow and leaning his head into his palm. "Is Zelda really pretty?" he asked, looking up at Sheik.

Sheik paused to ponder what ruminations she had left in him. "She's alright, I suppose," he shrugged after a gold colored thinking moment. "She's never really invoked anything in me."

"Oh. Jeez, how did it get so hot all of a sudden?" Link answered, asking the air, asking nobody- switching between topics without bias. Something about this place put him at ease. But it was weird, in that it fit Sheik and yet didn't. It fit him because of the colors- because of the juxtaposition of cursory items, the light that came in like ghost metals. It didn't fit him because it was peaceful here.

He looked back up at Sheik; Sheik looked at him for a moment, then focused his attention elsewhere. "Why are your eyes red?" Link asked, the question popping into his mind from nowhere- just came from looking at Sheik, he guessed. The tone of the question implied, "Why are _Sheikahs_' eyes red," it was just worded a little funny.

Sheik's eyes flickered back to Link; thrown into that light that made it like carnivorous magic. "Our eyes couldn't cry anymore, so they started to bleed," he responded with a simple logic.

The thought of that hit Link sadly, even though Sheik said it with a slight amusement. "A lot of bad stuff happens, huh?" Link said, with a vague tiredness crossing his mouth.

"It does," Sheik answered; leaned against the wall opposite Link, shifted his posture so that it fit the dark just right.

"It's really peaceful here, though," Link went on, like he was trying to sort out some long-off distant thought. "I think that if I lived in a place like this, maybe it would be easier? I dono."

Sheik gave a small laughing glance, tilted his head up as though to see Link from far away. "Easier? You look as though you haven't a care," he said, and he lied, because although the fact had never been clarified he knew that there was some burden that Link was carrying- he could see it in the cigarette way he moved, in the soft cold rain of his eyes-

Link seemed to think about that for a short moment. "I worry sometimes," he said, and the sad sweetness of his words cast its arms around Sheik, enveloped him in a piercing sound, between warmth and shadowy cool- between light music and pepper stars. "I worry about, whether I'm doing the right thing." Everything was vision in hot and cold, but with the sun's patina- the way the warm light touched Link just so, and..."Because, there's a lot of hurt in the world. You can hurt someone and not even know it. A person's heart is really important. It's like. When you're hurt the world can turn inside out. There's a lot of pain, and I don't want to be that kind of person."

Then a moment, where things switched, flashed, from dark back to light; and Link paused, seeming to catch himself- looked at Sheik and laughed sunnily. It was unknowable whether or not the champagne sounds were happy or sad; or if there was pain or confusion. Link was just there, posture all low and slim, the sunlight like honey softly on his body, shirt sort of messed up, unbuttoned, casual. It all happened without the comfort of clarity, like time had erupted. Loneliness seared hollow across Sheik's chest- just the pure feeling of being _alone_, full and poignant like the salt before tears, that long dark empty feeling of absence. And then high nervous fear, rising and billowing like color in the sea, because the only clear thought that came into his mind was that this loneliness could be ameliorated if he could just feel in Link the shock of contact, the star's itch, the darkness and sugar: could just touch him...and that would make the loneliness longing, and that was terrifying to him.

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Another day and no more sorrow, and Link wasn't even aware of the explosions, the destruction, he caused with his honesty and smiles. But then, as stated before, everybody was wearing a mask, so how could he be aware? Today Sheik was off someplace else, something secret, so he killed time by going out to eat with Shad and Malon.

It was some hipster diner-type place. It had that synthetic pop vibe, but there were posters of musicians & the underground plastered all over the walls- a lot of the Indigo-go's. Anyway they were sitting in a booth huddled against the window, Malon with a pretty smile on her face, Shad with his usual eyes of acceptance and asking.

"Oh, did you hear?" Malon asked, suddenly and brightly, and pointed a french fry at Link across the table. "Zelda's coming back next week!"

"Oh, she is?" Link responded, tipping his head curiously; then smiled, picked up his soda. "That's cool."

"Wanna meet her, right?" Malon teased, with a pressing wink. "Fulfilling your boyhood dreams and everything?"

Link laughed a little in response. "It'll be nice to meet her," he said, then paused on a half-thought. "Since she's Sheik's friend, she'll probably be fun."

Malon laughed coolly. "Jeez, you're dumb," she said, then leaned forward. "Haven't you seen Zelda before? Most guys'd be wetting their pants."

"Huh? No, I haven't seen her before. Is she pretty?"

Malon laughed again, indulgent and incendiary. "You're a piece of work, Link, you know that?"

Link shrugged, innocent of the accusation; then looked out on the scenes outside the window, playing in electric time. "Why are they friends, anyway?" he asked, half-turning back to Shad and Malon, "Are they like similar or something?"

Shad paused; exchanged a glance with Malon, and then looked back at Link. "Are they similar?...I suppose not. They're rather dissimilar, actually," he said, pushing up his glasses a bit.

"They don't have anything in common, though?" Link asked, smiling absently at the scene outside- a man whose pants were being torn up by a tiny ratty dog, balloons carried by a huge woman who owned the street...

He was too spaced out to notice the quick flashing beat of a pause, but it struck him when Malon said with acid in her voice, "Yeah, they both have no heart."

Link's eyes blinked confusedly back to her. Shad's mouth turned in disapproval. "That's not entirely true," he corrected, his voice not so aloof as his words would imply.

Malon raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah," she began like a lecturer, "Excuse me, Sheik has a black shriveled heart."

"What do you mean she has no heart?" Link asked, picking up a french fry off Malon's plate.

"Hey, that's mine! Thief!" she exclaimed; Link sent her a tomcat grin, and she laughed in return, but then set her eyes to some soft thought. "Well, I don't know. Zelda's just a very- cold person. She seems, like- immovable, almost. There's something about her eyes...She's just not very friendly, I guess is what I'm saying. She's okay and everything, but you just get this feeling when she's around."

"I would suppose that Zelda is naturally very guarded," Shad said, digging his fork into his food as some aggressive beat bopped down from the ceiling speakers.

"I asked her how she was feeling once," Malon rejoined, taking hold of her milkshake. "She told me she 'felt in theory.'"

"Zelda is very intelligent," Shad replied, "Her thoughts are naturally quite abstract."

Malon paused, then broke into a starry laugh. "Oh, shut up, Shad," she said, rolling her teasing eyes over to him (he sat, innocent and accused by her knowing mouth), "You've got like, the biggest hard-on for her in _history_."

Link choked a little on his soda, then, laughing, high-fived Malon across the table while Shad just sat there, shaking his head. Link and Malon finished up their laughing fit, and Link leaned back into the booth with a vague smile. "Yeah, but, I don't know, I don't think Sheik's like that," he said, stealing another french fry from Malon's plate.

There was a pause as Shad's and Malon's minds rewound the conversation to the point about Sheik. "Oh," Malon said, "You mean that you don't think he has a black shriveled heart and is incapable of feeling love for anybody but himself? And stop it with the french fries or I'll impose a tax."

Link just shrugged sweetly. "I don't know. He might come off that way," he started, leaning on the table and looking outside, "but I think it's because he wants to be sincere. Like, he doesn't want to just say things or be somebody for other people- because that would just be falling into a lie. I don't think he means to hurt anybody." He paused. "I think it's better that he's sincere, anyway."

Shad looked at Link consideringly- as though his words confirmed something Shad had been thinking for a long time- and Malon paused and just waved it off. "Okay," she said. "That may be true, but I still think he's a horrible person. Want a french fry, fairy boy?" she asked, tilting her plate with a grin on her face.

"I don't have any money for your tax," Link answered, grinning right back.

"Just kiss me, that's the tax," she replied with a wink; then doubled back on that thought, ran a hand through her hot hair. "You got a girl yet, by the way? You need a girl-"

And the conversation ran off in that way, slipped off cliffs, slicked like oil and receded out of memory. It was getting kinda late, the pink was crawling between clouds and bleeding into the blue outside, so Link began to shuffle out of the booth. "I gotta go meet Sheik and Raven," he said with a smile, getting up- throwing some money on the table. Actually, he'd gotten quite a bit of money from when he last worked with Raven, so he was set for now...

"Okay, don't have too much fun now," Malon said, reaching up to hug him.

"Good seeing you," Shad said, with a smile.

Link turned windily to go, but pivoted right back around, a question in his eyes. "Oh, Shad," he began, "I wanted to ask you something about Sheikahs."

Shad blinked. "It's not my area of expertise, but I may be able to help," he smiled, "What did you want to know?"

"Oh, just- is there something wrong in their-? I mean, what happened to the Sheikah? Do they have a bloody history or something?" Link asked.

A curious look passed Shad's face. "Well," he began, "the Sheikah haven't had too violent of a history. You'll understand that every race and culture has had- wars, conflict, general wrongdoing...but nothing out of the usual for Hyrule. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Thanks!" Link nodded with a smile, and turned off to leave, out of their and into some other impressions. Shad and Malon just looked at each other with a shrug, and went back to their meal.

Shad and Malon were nice. He liked Malon especially, she was fun and just generally a good person. He felt they had a lot of things in common. They had the same sense of humor and the same references. The thing that tied them together the most though was that they were two people who didn't have money, didn't come from money, travelling within circles wherein everybody had money. It did make a subtle difference, and they understood the same type of things. Malon came from the country like he did; four days a week she worked as a coatcheck girl in a dinner joint.

Pretty much the only thing they disagreed on was Sheik. Ah, well, different strokes for different folks. Or something. Link pondered how stupid that saying sounded as he rounded smokey corners, passed by coffee stands and separate scenes that seemed to complete some vague puzzle. Whatever it was, it was beyond his reach.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The sun was setting, or had set already- there was a clarity and a darkness that dusted over. Autumn had a supply of gold- you could see it round 7 PM. It washed over the streets in a rainy light, dripping off the trees. In disabling laughter Sheik and Link leaned on one another as they walked down the incendiary street; the place the group'd wanted to go to turned out to have burned down a couple days ago, so they headed to some stale lounge where everybody was self-conscious and the music was too loud. Raven got them kicked out, though, so here they were, on the sidewalk and walking down lanes of stars.

It was Sheik, Link, and Raven, as usual; this time, there was also the twins, and the writer...that was a surprise, since he usually didn't hang around with them. The writer was suspiciously anonymous, and today he seemed to be quieter than usual, on the verge of an idea...

But nobody cared much. Raven was smoking a fat cigarette, rolling his eyes at Sheik and Link. "Fucking get a new joke, you retarts," he bit irritatedly, smoke streaming out of his mouth, "The beggar shit's gettin' old."

"Don't get sensitive, Raven," Link grinned, glancing back at him.

"You can't get a meal if you're nursing a heavy heart," Sheik answered, gasping leopard dark, eyes bright and veiled; "It so happens I've some change, though- perhaps fortune's smiling on you?"

"I don't take money from fuckin' masked terrorists," Raven snapped, "But thanks anyway."

"Rather be a terrorist," Sheik said, words teetering on a knife's edge as he walked like wind out from under Link's arm, "Explosions would be under my grasp: in bomb time, the sundial subjects- not the slow decay of beggar life. Regardless, what does it matter? Double-time or slow-motion, it's all back to sound and earth."

Link smiled, pausing on that thought; Sheik was careful not to look at him- it was unpredictable, when the hot and cold would make pressure black over his eyes, when the simultaneous regret and warmth would flush back into his chest. It was better to keep distracted.

Raven replied something, the twins made some remark, quiet enveloped slow and warm as smoke. The rain gold faded gradually into vintage blue, and they came near the mouth of a playground. Sheik meandered in, as though it was normal for them to go to a playground, with Link towing close behind. Mothers cast them dirty eyes, ushered their children out past the gang of smoking cretins at the gates.

Link breezed in, stood next to Sheik, pondered the swings and the slides like they were opportunities; humming a recently popular radio song because he couldn't remember the words. Sheik looked at him with quiet in his eyes, and Link looked back and smiled.

Sheik turned his eyes away while Link began to speak- feeling full that boulevard chord itching in his veins. "Nice night, huh? All the fireflies are gone already, though," Link observed casually, swinging his arms at his sides.

Sheik was distracted enough for a moment to let off a small laugh at Link's incoherent mind; but a thought struck Raven, and he broke the conversation. "Oh yeah- hey you, Zelda's comin' back next week," he nodded toward Link casually.

Link looked back toward him. "Ah? Yeah, I know, Malon told me today."

"Yeah, and this one dint even bother to say anything," Raven said, raising an eyebrow and pointing to Sheik. "Hadda find that shit out on the _news_. You keepin' secrets or what?"

Sheik turned back to Raven- looked at him with that sidelong glance, that mild look of the manic snake, something about him seeming to smile. "I may be," he answered, folding his arms, "What would you be willing to know, Raven?"

Raven's eyes turned suspicious, surly. "Tch, nuthin' from you, ya criminal."

Sheik laughed; Link's eyes turned up thoughtfully. "What day is she coming back, anyway?"

"Hmm? That still has to be worked out," Sheik answered, turning back to Link. "Zelda's importance runs vague lines," he added, with something sardonic and dark in his voice that Link couldn't read.

"So? Ya lookin' forward to meetin' her, kid?" Raven asked, catching Link in a half-headlock.

"Owch! Raven, did you just grab my ass?" Link laughed. "Yeah, I guess. If she's Sheik's friend she must be cool."

"Hear that, Sheik? At least _somebody_ likes you," Raven said, letting go of Link- and Raven said it casually, unaware of this burning idea that was trapped inside Sheik's eyes.

"Yeah, I- oh crap!" Link suddenly exclaimed, bringing a hand tentatively to his mouth.

"What's wrong?" Sheik asked, head tipping curiously.

"What time is it?"

"'Round seven," the twins said in unison, looking up from an ant they were studying.

"I gotta go," Link said hurriedly, eyes concerned, set immediately on his new destination- Link was like that, fully concentrated on one point when he needed to be. "I forgot I have to help clean the kitchen! See you guys. 'Bye Sheik," he said, touching Sheik's arm lightly as he ran off toward the iron gates.

The group watched him as he turned right, down the street, presumably toward the bus stop or something. There was a spot of silence as the leaves whirled in a small breeze.

Raven's eyes flattened. "I could've just called him a cab," he said, like his brain had deflated, "Shit, he's stupid."

"He's focused, I suppose," Sheik observed.

"...He's probably gonna get hit by a fucking car on the way there," Raven replied.

"Link," Sheik began, with a tone of voice that Raven and the others had never heard before- made them listen intently, wonder what it meant- "Link is touched by luck. He's a favored son- a seventh son, seems like Link carries light with him." There were parts left out; but that was something that even he hadn't figured out yet, so he decided it was prudent to keep quiet about it.

Raven paused. "Yeah, he's a good kid," he shrugged, getting out another cigarette. Then a quiet idea came into his eyes. "You know, we oughta do sumthin' fer him."

"Yeah, we should," the twins agreed, nodding sagely.

"Like?" Sheik asked, posture seeming to sigh as he looked toward the flowers and the swings.

"...I dono," Raven shrugged, like that shouldn't be up to him.

Sheik's eyes glowed in a dark shade and he seemed to laugh imperceptibly. "I can see it now: Raven in a sequined gown, arriving at Link's house with a basket of cupcakes, flowers adorning the path. Eagles and fanfare announcing his arrival. That would work, Raven. Your measurements?"

"Ha-ha, you slay me," Raven answered, obscured in a cloud of smoke; then he made a movement that was like a breath of relief, stretching like a cat, cigarette hanging limp out of his mouth. "You know what that fucker needs? He needs a _girl_." He paused, then grinned. "Hell, _I_ need a girl. _Another_ girl, that is."

The writer paused from obscurity, seemed to be part of the scenery again. "He'd probably have more fun if he had a girl," he chimed in- but there was something in his voice that was hidden, like he was constructing an idea.

There was a sudden nothingness in Sheik's breathing- just an absence of any reaction, and he paused to ruminate on that. There was a subtle darkness brewing like a cloud over him, but nothing else...they continued their conversation: "Yeah, I mean, that chick Princess digs him," Raven said, "Like, _really_ fuckin' digs him-"

"_Her_?" Sheik suddenly replied, voice dark and full of acid- but with just a touch of casualness to cause a gelatinous unease to settle in the air. "She's a little girl, what can she do for him? Better to pair him with a mannequin."

The others read the atmosphere- knew now that they were treading within a danger zone. Sheik's posture was coiled and tensed, within some heat of feeling that clouded his perception momentarily; then something in him flushed, and the tenseness wore out, died down. Seeing that, Raven started to talk again- although the words were rounded, like stepping around a sleeping carnivore. "I mean, she's cute- got a cute face, nice ass. She ain't that smart, that's always a fuckin' plus," he shrugged. "She digs 'im is all, she'll go along with it."

"A hero needs a girl!" one of the brothers shouted to the birds, like a rowdy reminder.

Raven looked toward Sheik- the de facto leader of the gang, after all, and if Sheik didn't give consent everyone knew it wouldn't go down smoothly. Nobody asked _why_ he _wouldn't_ go with the plan- it was something unsaid that Sheik didn't like questions to be asked.

Again the feeling of nothing. Sheik's streaming mind didn't pause to think on why feelings came in staccato cliffs, rising and falling with the quickness of flames. He felt now as though he needed to put his guard back up, to become distant once again. "It's fine; do what you like," he replied, mildly. They went off to planning as Sheik watched for stars to pass by his brain. The only one who found the tone in his voice odd, actually, was the writer.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

So it was decided that Sheik, Raven, the twins, Princess, and Link would go out to dinner- it was less conspicuous that way (the writer said he had something else to do) (Shad would come as well because he had a car- something Raven failed to mention while extending the invitation). It was a boppin' night, it was full of radio mist and musical sugar that seeped down saccharine from the stars. Something in the city seemed to glow, and while Link was getting dressed he was feeling full the itch for some alley adventure.

The blinded horse, hot wax & a deal with the devil: red coals to touch, dipping your feet in the swarming world of wrong...well, Link didn't have much time for that, and instead headed out, saying goodbye to everybody in the common rooms as he went...gave a small salute to some pretty girls on the street, soldier of love, then hopped a bus going out to the heart of the city.

The cool swept down like autumn magic around him, shapes along the lines of his body, and he got off on the boulevard. Princess tar and moving cars: there was the buzz of activity colored like lightning along the street. Where were they going to meet again?...

"Basically, I felt like I was fucking snow," some girl passing by was telling her friend, "He's an albino, so what do you expect? But there's- something about him I just _love_-"

Suddenly he remembered the street number; it was funny, what could spark the keys of memory. Anyway he followed the numbers as they dwindled and from a distance could see Sheik: leaning as one vagrant in a faceless crowd, and something in the lonely song of his posture made a vague thought in Link's mind, for whatever weird reason. Sheik's eyes regarded him with a distant thought.

"Hey!" Link smiled. "What's up? Where is everybody?"

"They've gone already; receded back to roots," Sheik answered, thoughtfully. "You're not late, though."

"Okay," he answered. Then his eyes, bright as smiles, crooked curiously. "What are you doing alone, though?"

Sheik seemed to be sucking down knives; seemed to hold something back within his mouth. "I was waiting on a promise, but it's a shot in the dark- now that my hand's already in," he explained, "There's nothing but a bomb."

"That doesn't sound good," Link replied, mouth turned in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, putting a hand solidly on Sheik's shoulder.

"I'm fine; I'm guessing you're hungry, though," Sheik answered. The light in his eyes was vague and far away, it was glittering in some river of sand that was falling quickly out of grasp. But he seemed to not want to talk about it, so Link complied and let it go with a smile.

"Yep! What are we eating anyway? Oh, am I dressed okay?" Link asked, as they started to walk, stepping back a little against the shopguard traffic so Sheik could see him fully. "I'm just wondering if it'll be a fancy place, and you know, if people are gonna look at me and start asking me for their checks and stuff."

"...You're fine," Sheik answered, with a shadowed glance; then revised that thought quick as panic. "You're too young to stoop to manners, as it is."

"Huh? What's that mean?" Link asked, tipping his head a bit.

Sheik paused; there a softness in his movements as he explained. "There are a few conditions which make everything excusable; one is youth. Another is money. Youth fades; money is a lockbox, armor. The world's a wicked place; but, don't be disappointed- this was written in time, after all. Ah, we're here."

It was a nondescript enough place, it didn't seem to have any voice: quiet between the bricks and the newspaper stands. Strands of ink in the night. The blustered inside, where the lights were low and the darkness was stifling over pools of lily candle light, floating by on every table...against propaganda posters sat the group, at the separate tables- Raven, Shad, and the twins at one booth, then Princess sitting alone at a little table to their right.

There seemed to be something subtle in the atmosphere that made Link smile curiously, wondering what was up. The only one who looked like there wasn't something behind his mind was Raven; he raised an eyebrow when Link and Sheik walked in. "Oh, here he is," he said, with an arch of suspicion rising catlike in his voice, "You gotta have like, ESP or some shit, Sheik. What's with showin' up like, thirty fuckin' years late, kid?"

"Oh- I just needed to help clean the kitchen," Link laughed. The lights in here were low, lit that way that dimmed perception- Sheik moved slim into a seat across from Raven, and Link began to follow, shuffle in-

But Raven shook his head. "Hey, what the Hell? Go sit with Princess, you cretin," he said, gesturing over to Princess sitting nearby at a small, round table.

"No room here," the twins nodded.

"Ain't you a gentleman? Mother fucking Teresa and shit?" Raven added.

Link tipped his head curiously. "Oh, sorry," he said, and went dutifully over to Princess in a puppy walk. Sheik's mind flashed and paused- he couldn't explain this twisted spark that shot dark into his arms when Link walked away...

"Sorry, I didn't forget you! I didn't know you were alone!" Link said brightly, slipping into the seat across from Princess. She smiled- Earl pearl gray, the morning flushing into her eyes as she saw Link's boyish movements, his sweet smile...

"It's fine," she laughed, "I knew you wouldn't forget me."

A scene from different points of view- different impressions in the darkness that hovered between lit spaces. Raven made some crude comment about a girl outside, and they decided what to order- a warm smile, a reaching hand, a dark feeling of hate glimmering in an anonymous heart: that was how it started out, so it was obvious to anybody who paid attention that it wouldn't end well.

There was spastic laughter and alcohol rising into the blood- halfway through, half the party was half drunk, and there was a wholly nice feeling to the air. Link had no idea, of course, that they were trying to set him up with Princess. Every time he turned around to join in on their conversation, he'd get shunted out rudely, evicted from the group like some social pariah. He was confused, but he liked Princess, so it was okay.

Sheik was telling some story at the table- his speech a silencer, magnetic and cryptic. "It was a street gun and a desert thief- luckily, I made it out _alive_," he was saying, the last syllable a feline sigh, "-escaped into the alley night, but there was a clown. I, of course, did my civic duty and kicked him in the crotch. Happiness is a socialist thing, after all."

There was a rising of laughter at the table (slim thirty-somethings nearby shot them a dirty look); Link choked on his drink a little. "I met a clown once, actually," he piped up from his seat- "I think he pinched my cheeks or something."

Sheik turned to Link, looked at him over his shoulder. "Didn't he see the no solicitation sign?"

"I don't think so- I was scarred for life, three times over," Link grinned.

"Hey, what the Hell? Pay some goddamn attention to the girl," Raven snapped, gesturing over to Princess.

"Yeah, this is a no-Link zone!" one of the twins sputtered out, words half-slurred.

Link laughed and turned back to Princess. "Sorry, sorry," he said, taking a sip of his drink, "So, uhm...what's up?" he asked, hesitantly, for lack of something better to say.

She paused, then laughed. "'What's up?'" she repeated, and he laughed along with her. "Jeez, Link," she added.

"I know- I just dono what to say. Hmm, these are really good- hey, lemme try your drink!" Link exclaimed, suddenly keen on the idea- she was drinking something interesting- electric pink-colored and with sugar on the rim. He reached his hand out, and she laughed as she gave the cup to him. He took a thoughtful sip. "Huh, that's good- it's sweet though." He took his cup and Princess watched his eyes (and she saw that same rainy day in them that Sheik had seen, and her heart was melted gold for a moment); he reached it out to her. "Want some?"

Her eyes widened a little, and she smiled and nodded. Neither noticed the vigilant hush that fell over Sheik's table...Link tipped it a little and she took a sip. "Careful," she said, as some spilled on the table. "It's- uh, it's good- thank you," she said with a happy laugh like falling stars. Link smiled and said something, took a quick gulp from the glass before setting it back on the table.

Raven was watching with slow, alligator eyes. "Christfuck, he's a goddamn _natural_," he said, with a surly line in his mouth- his eyes flashed to the rest of the table. "Why the _Hell_ doesn't he get more ass? Prolly 'cause he's hangin' 'round you, ya goddamn delinquent."

Sheik's mind blanked- one dim light of thought flickering low and cold. "Hmm, maybe," was all he said, somewhat distractedly, turning his eyes away from Princess and Link quickly. This feeling was crushing- more like swallowing, a supermassive black hole, something strong and cruel...

"That's really good, actually," Link mused to himself, blissfully unaware as he reached over for Princess' drink.

She smiled. "Oh, just be careful though- I've been sick the last few days, I don't know if I could still have it," she warned, a tone of warmth showering the chords of her voice-

"Hm, well that's very considerate of you, isn't it?" Sheik said mildly from his place.

There was a pause; Link looked up to Sheik, knowing immediately from the tone that something was wrong- knew from the withdrawn venom, knew from the way the atmosphere suddenly changed- the way he said it, so casual and dull. Princess bit her lip hesitantly, that tone was like a _knife_; the rest of the group just fell into quiet. Sheik didn't look back to Link and Princess, just seemed to shake it off, and he resumed the conversation just as easily.

But he shook on the inside, felt to erase his mind for a moment- he didn't understand, but he had...just felt like he couldn't control himself, it was coursing in his bones like electric shock. He sat dissatisfied as Shad said something, warily easing back into a normal mood. He didn't know what hopes for Link Princess had- didn't know what Link even thought of her- but any which way it made him uneasy, put a bad black taste in his throat. And why did he even _feel_ that way?...

Link knew that whenever Sheik had that tone he meant it. He held a distant worry, wondering if he'd done something wrong and hadn't noticed it...maybe he'd taken a bit too much, maybe he'd acted too familiar? He smiled it off though, so that Princess wouldn't feel anxious. "What did you have, anyway?" he asked.

She paused- juxtaposed to that subtle panther poison, Link's warm mouth, his cosmic eyes, were a place to go to- were shelter from the storm. "Oh, probably just a cold," she answered. "I got it from one of the girls in the office, I bet- they go around just sneezing all over their hands, touching everything."

"An office?" Link asked, then grinned. "Are you a businessman?"

She laughed and thwacked him playfully on the hand. "_No_, Link, I'm not a businessman. I'm a secretary _for_ the businessman." She paused, eyes flickered upwards- exhaled a flushed breath of air like the alcohol was choking pink around her lungs. "He's a jerk, but it's fine."

"Hm. I guess things are funny like that- everything looks different from a certain standpoint- I mean it seems like bosses are always jerks in one way or another," Link pondered.

Princess smiled. "Yeah, it does always look different- like I probably just look like some dumb floozy to him- God, I know I do- and he's just an ass to me...do you work, Link?"

Link paused and some rainy thought popped into his mind. "Nope," he said, shaking his head and thinking of Sheik.

She laughed. "Oh, you're a slacker, then?"

He smiled. "I guess so," he replied.

"Well, working's not always the best thing to do at the moment- I mean like, I guess sometimes it's just not a good time, you have to take off," she said, but her words suddenly seemed distant.

"Oh, yeah- hey, you! Why the Hell didn't you come out with me and Jovani the other day?" Raven called from the other table, making an exasperated gesture, "We raised fucking _Hell_- they ain't gonna want us back in _that_ place for a long time- you fuckin' missed out!"

"Oh, really?...When was that? Thursday?" Link asked, looking over.

"Nah, Wednesday."

"Oh. I was at Sheik's house," Link answered, brushing some hair out of his eyes, taking a sip of his drink.

Raven's expression balked- some confusion passed his face in dark and gold, and his eyes snapped. "_Eh_?" he answered, raising an eyebrow, then looking at Sheik. Sheik made no response- only the dark bloody claret of his eyes moved small and snakelike to Raven. Raven paused; Link lifted his eyes, wondering what was up. "...You were at _Sheik's_ house?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Link answered- had he said something wrong? The atmosphere hadn't stilled but it sure as Hell was moving slow- there seemed to be an exchange of glances, a communal shift in posture...

"Well, lucky fuckin' you," Raven said with a bite in his tongue, with a shrug in his shoulders- taking his drink with a rough hand, like it was some arbitrary set of gambling cards. "Never thought I'd see the fuckin' day, Sheik."

"That's right," Sheik replied- without enough of a pause to make it natural- something in his manner laughing sinfully, looking down from some dark rainy cliff- "It's fit to understand, I don't just let_ anybody_ close to me."

Those words were directed at_ somebody_- an arrow that pierced with direction through metaphysical dark, but the question was who was it directed at? The answer was up in the air- the blame was up for grabs. Princess felt a hot caution, like it was directed at her; and Link's heart fell into rainy day gray, feeling that Sheik was angry with him for some reason.

There was an odd waiting hush, a waiting for somebody to pick up the night again. Sheik let out a sound that sounded like a small seismic laugh but seemed more like a viper's hiss, and said, "Well? You were talking of something- go on, then, no need for interruption."

Words the dark flesh of pomegranate, coming full circle like night...Everybody was a little off-balance now, but resumed some remnants of thought leftover. What was worse was that Sheik's air was now pointedly casual- markedly cool, like he was just _ready_, at the front lines with a blade in his blood, off his tongue.

Link fidgeted in his seat- felt to get out, but also wondered with a quiet heart what was wrong. Had he done something...? He'd been within the radius of Sheik's hate- felt that itching heat- but it was different when it was directed at _him_. It felt like needles; it felt like being behind a closed door.

He looked up to Princess- her eyes were wary and moving slow, and Link could tell she didn't know if she should go- didn't know how to pick up the conversation again. He worked up a smile and gave her a small tap on the wrist. Her eyes turned up surprised. "So, uh- you were saying about your jerk boss?" he asked.

Her hand was petal soft; she lifted it slowly, breaking contact seamlessly, touch of water. "Oh, nothing," she answered, leaning her hand in her palm, "I just never know where I _am_ with him-"

And at his place at the table, Sheik was slowly burning inside some golden cage- heart suffering, mind well beyond a conceivable road. Something inside him was trembling, but he was trying,...he was trying to salvage some sense, trying to keep this dark feeling at bay. But it was overcoming him slowly, and between cracks of petulant light, he didn't feel like he could contain it any longer.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Everything seemed to recede to empty space, to quiet air; some people were just coming out, some were folding dreams between their hands and heading home- a silent reality that seemed to be too much. Raven was untouchable even to this pervading silence, but had gone after a cute girl he saw at the bar ("Holy shit," he'd declared, shuffling out of the booth). The twins, always ready for a laugh at Raven's expense, followed quickly after.

Shad and Sheik continued a conversation that slanted off of sunset, that seemed to be a game of perception. But Sheik wasn't the losing kind- he could run circles 'round Shad if he wanted to, so Shad just kept a pleasant vocabulary. It seemed to all be fine but Shad recognized something choking in Sheik's movements.

Princess and Link were having fun at their table- that flushed, drunken kind of fun, rosy in laughing and time forgotten. A freelance magician came around and passed a flier to them with the face of a reaper. They tried to make something resembling a house of cards by tearing it into pieces, but it fell down with every anxious laugh- every flash of Princess' eyes making his hands falter. Link sensed something in the way she looked at him, but he didn't think too much about it.

"Yes, but," Sheik was saying, words soft and amused, "there is war in the mind, in the heart. War happens everyday; by every number on the clock something is destroyed. Between sex and money- the blood of the empire- it's a natural thing for war to happen; there's no avoiding it, unless you'd like to tranquilize the hearts of the masses."

Shad was smiling as well- wills seemed to be pushing against each other, passing abrasive. "I suppose that nature is inherently warlike," he agreed, "However, I believe that through the faculties of reason and compassion, mankind may be able to overcome the instinct of conflict." Link caught their words by a thread of silence; pondered the fact that Shad seemed to be the only person who Sheik's words were ineffective against.

Sheik laughed. "Reason and logic are irrelevant dogs- slip away like air when you need them the most." He seemed to reason on that point, leaned strangely into the dark. "You can have your peace, then; I've got dues to pay to spirits and masks, and this battlefield is where I earn my wages."

"You're far too superstitious," Shad smiled.

"Maybe you're just blind," Sheik responded, never one to miss a beat, "-None of you academics believe in reality, besides."

"Perhaps not; but if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the restroom," Shad said, getting up with a polite nod, and moving imperceptibly past their table, past some lost people.

There didn't seem to be any shift in the air. Sudden stillness, sudden quiet, yeah- but none of the tense electricity that one would presume would be there if it was just Princess, Link, and Sheik together. The only one who felt anything different was Sheik- a sudden tensing, the completion of some dark wave's circumnavigation of his brain. He let off a breath and turned his eyes past the colors in his mind and toward the scene outside the window...

His mind was dulled; animal in that there was now only sensation, only instinct. He felt somebody come closer to him and seemed to look up out of a daze when Link's arm passed over his shoulder- reaching to get something on the table...

"Oh, sorry," Link said, the words faltering- Sheik looked up to him; his eyes were suddenly soft and there was a pause on his mouth- he laughed, "These just looked good but we didn't order them at my table so I wanned to try them."

Link popped one of the leftover appetizers into his mouth, giving it life from the condemnation of the abandoned plate; the lights were low, so that there were only hints of the light that made his face, but Sheik thought that there was no better light to see him in right now. His mind flushed, lit in wheels of color, became engulfed in shadow like he was on a drunk: the sudden thought that Link was something permanent and sweet as death, and high fear rising into his throat at the thought...some sudden intense brightness at having him near, some dark criminal thought- something sick...

Link tensed under Sheik's eyes. He figured in all probability he was still mad at him- was so worried that he'd done something wrong that he directed his gaze elsewhere and wondered nervously what to say. "Yeah, it's good," he coughed nervously, smiling a little bit, balance lilting..."Oh, so- uhm-"

"You should be getting back to Princess, hm?" Sheik suddenly said, as though feeling had pushed through his mouth- words sharp and bitter; something was telling him it shouldn't be that way, but it was overwhelming him...

Link paused; Princess looked over from the table, sitting lonely, petite legs crossed- thought maybe to get in a good impression with Sheik, and said with a smile, "Oh, no, I'm fine! You two keep talking."

"Oh, so you wouldn't be _lonely_ then- you wouldn't worry about him _forgetting_ you?" Sheik said, laughing dark, eyes cutting over to her. He fixed her with a look- quiet and carnivorous, full of something corrosive- and she flinched. Link turned back to Sheik in the throws of surprise, crawling to his brain with electroshock and ice. Sheik sat coiled, emotions throwing off him like magnetic waves- the heat of his feeling was physical, tangible, changed the patterns of the air immediately.

"Oh- no- I was just- I mean, no," she started to stutter, forgetting her mouth and letting her confusion run- but Sheik was not one for pity and he wasn't one for wasting time, and a flash of irritation sparked inside his dark eyes.

"Ah, 'no', is it? Good, then, take a moment to breathe- relax without the heat of infatuation," he snapped- a voice that destroyed, that razed cities- that burned- but also something small and petty in his words that was foreign to Link.

"Sheik-" he said, as though to ask him what was wrong.

"Apologies aren't exactly my way," Sheik snapped, without waiting for response, thinking it was just another of _those_, people who tried to beat him into some semblance of similarity...but then he paused and realized that it was Link- Link, eyes for asking, eyes that embraced as free and warm as tears would- Link with a fire in his movements. Sheik's eyes were suddenly shadowed and he looked away quickly. "Y-you'd best leave me be, for now," he said, uneasily- his fingers twitched just a little bit, hand lying listless on the table.

Princess was flushed red- flustered, embarrassed- looked like she was about to crack from vexation at the table. Link didn't know what to do and so he listened to Sheik- followed Sheik's directions, headed over to their table...Princess got up and excused herself, not knowing what else to do, and Link's mind was falling down and blinded- his heart tightened and he felt rainy and gray. He followed Princess as she made her way to the door; he came to a realization- he'd remember it as first time he'd heard Sheik stutter, and that meant something because he had such unfailing confidence in Sheik's words. Sheik would just remember it as a night of Hell- a night of feelings that blind-sided him without regard to clarity; that erupted in darkness and light, that spelled "longing" like flowers and flame, like sweetness just out of reach. Dying of thirst surrounded by water- slave to some hateful feeling that remained mockingly anonymous.

Nobody else recognized anything wrong, though, when they came back to the table. The twins idly wondered where Link was; Raven situated himself all criminal posture and low swears as he explained the situation with that chick at the bar; and Shad just sat down smiling, continuing the conversation with a blind eye.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

And then everything just ebbed again, the tide weakened and fell to just a memory- became only a dim wariness to Sheik and Link. The night wrapped up goldwire around itself; Sheik and Raven got the check and they all shuffled out. Princess was happy again; Link, in a rare moment of cleverness, managed to convince her that she was just being overly emotional and not remembering things clearly because she was tipsy. Which she was, so he helped her to sober up by frantically ordering a seltzer, and that was that. She was laughing in no time, downing her drinks and becoming again the flower of the night, the glamour Madonna and the saint of sunshine.

Link sorta felt like a sucky person for doing it, but he hadn't known what else to do, had still been confused by the sudden hatred in Sheik's voice, the sudden pinpointing anger. He sighed it off and they all walked out to Shad's car.

The night was cool; the boulevards were wide, seemed to be full of fluorescent moonlight and the empty stories of love and murder. There seemed to be something untold in the anonymous doors, the muddled neon language. Everything seemed to be flowering anyway and the car pulled slowly forward, picked up speed.

"'Ey, what the Hell is this fuckbrain doing? Come the fuck on- what the fuck's with the snails on the road?" Raven was saying impatiently at the front looking with a hot irritation at the cars ahead. An older man in a business suit (a heart attack waiting to wake up) was holding up traffic at a green light, and they were stuck at the crossroad.

"Snails are street-legal," Sheik said, throwing commentary, voice amused from the back seat. Link couldn't help but smile but was careful not to laugh.

"Looks like it- 'ey, what's this shit? You drive like a fucking old lady, Shad," Raven balked, looking _appalled_ at Shad behind the wheel. "You tryin'a get a look at the goddamn turtles?"

Shad laughed and shook his head. "There's no harm in being safe," he said like it was a reminder.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah- close your legs, I can see your vagina from here," he snapped.

-But even in Raven's speech you could feel the sleepy air that had taken over the car. Things seemed to still. A short midnight silence fell like static electricity, like radio sounds, over the car.

"Anyone want a cigarette?" Raven asked from the front seat, taking out a box of cigarettes with a slim gesture.

Sheik's mind sparked a little bit, surfaced from memories and illusions; he felt like smoking...but not now, later. He couldn't, in front of...

"Oh, me, please!" Princess called from the back, raising her hand a little bit.

"Yeah- here ya go, honey," Raven replied, stretching back to hand the cigarette to one of the brothers, who dutifully passed it on to Princess. Sheik and the twins were sitting in the back seats; Princess and Link were relegated to makeshift chairs in the hatchback trunk.

Smoke drifted, predator lazy, cold and slow, up from the front seat. Princess took the cigarette with a delicate "thank you," and placed it between her lips. Sheik felt a spark of hatred fill his eyes, and he turned to look out the window- trying to get her out of his peripherals...

The smoke wrapped around her; her skin shone pure and sugary in the street light and Link smiled. She looked back at him; her eyes laughed. "Did you have fun tonight?" she asked, breaking a tense, saccharine silence.

"Huh?- yeah," Link nodded, a kid's grin coming over his face.

She laughed. "That's good. I did, too."

He gave a gesture of confidence- he turned to look out the window, and Princess took a moment to digest the rainy, low way he moved. He seemed melancholy, but she was too buzzed to see that clearly. "Oh- hey, look outside," he said, leaning toward the window to get a better view. The street had its own stars; the air seemed silent and cold, seemed to still- had the feeling of a museum. "The lights outside are nice- it's like- nature's good, but I think manmade things are too. It's just pretty, I guess."

She bit her lip in the throws of affection- he was such a little kid...she took a drag and looked at him- suddenly bold. "Yeah? What about me?" she asked.

Sheik noted that his breathing seemed suddenly empty- something in his blood turned cold at that Link might look at her, might actually _go through_ with that. That same boulevard melody played, rattled, in his bones, but now it just seemed to weigh on him like a stone- it was without the sweetness and the melancholy it had before, was now just a gilded prison. He wondered about his heart-

But Link just turned to look at her- not realizing her intentions, thinking it a simple arbitrary question. "You?..." he asked, and looked at her consideringly. She blushed slightly at his eyes. "...Yeah. You have this certain- the light is good on you. You look like a flower, a little bit. But more like- have you ever seen those little cards that have prayers and pictures of martyrs and flowers on them? You look like that, to me. Like a ghost, sort of."

Her mind turned frenzied- lifted to a high and she chewed down more thoughtfully on her lip, wondering what to say. Something about him was just so _nice_..."Oh, uhm,- thank you," she managed to stammer.

"You're welcome!" Link piped happily.

She paused; then she laughed like autumn wind. Link paused, wondering what was funny, but he laughed too, anyway. The words just fell into Sheik's mind, down some endless abyss, cruelly starry and filled with untouchable brightness.

Princess smiled and sighed, pressed her head against the window with her cigarette in her hand, close by; the white outside lights- the cool amalgam of shadow and electricity that made pools in the night, travelling shadows- colored her face with lily magic. Sheik felt an urge to see her...he looked at her askance, subtle. In that moment he felt an irritation flare in his chest...that she could smoke and smile and look pretty- that, as he realized, Link could see it. More blues, more feelings colliding; the phrase "all in vain" crossed his mind, and he didn't have the courage to admit why.

Princess was dropped off at her small apartment; her roommate buzzed her in and she gave a small wave toward the car. The twins lived not too far away, so they were next...and then was Link: the came upon the place, and Link thanked everybody, said goodnight...

"Yeah, yeah, get outta the fuckin' car," Raven answered, pushing him a little bit.

"Eww, Raven germs," Link laughed, pulling open the door from the back. The cool air flushed inside- a breeze blew up from the tar and the flowers. He threw himself over the back seat with a clumsy puppy movement, falling on his back. "I have Ravenitis now," he added, sticking his tongue out.

"Ha-ha- anymore time in this car with you I swear I'd be infected with your fucking faggotry," Raven replied. Link stepped out; Raven leaned out the window a little bit, watching Link as he closed the door. "'Ey," he began, smoke pouring out of his mouth, "You wanna work tomorrow?"

Link looked back at him, mouth pausing. "Okay, sure," he smiled.

"Good. Watch the fuckin' phone then."

"Okay! Night- everyone!" Link replied, and turned coolly, with seamless favela ease, toward the house. He'd added "everyone" as a nervous afterthought...he didn't want to say goodbye to Sheik directly, but he didn't want to _not_ say goodbye to him...

He began to walk toward the door. The azaleas breathed in the midnight breeze; life seemed to have stilled, halted to this city mist. But it wasn't right to leave it like that, he suddenly thought- it wouldn't be right to just give some half-assed, "Goodbye, everyone" like it was _insurance_, like it was just a safe way out. He couldn't bear with taking the easy way out. Couldn't even bear with the uncertainty of Sheik's feelings- the thought he might be angry at him...

So he pivoted around, heading back toward the car. Sheik had his eyes closed inside- opened them slow when Link tapped on the window, opened them like it was a dream he'd already foreseen. Raven and Shad turned around to face Sheik; Shad rolled the window down and Sheik turned his eyes up, careful not to look _too_ directly at Link.

But there was no smile this time- but his eyes were already caught in that cool soda light, but his hair was already a torrid storm. "Hey- can I uhm- talk to you for a second?"

Sheik's mind paused dreadfully, but something in him obeyed. He pulled the door open and got out- wondering if he had wanted this to happen or if he _hadn't_ wanted this to happen. At any rate this confusion was just too much...

He stepped out. His movements were cautious, catlike- he seemed to recede into the dark, only the quiet in his eyes was apparent to Link. Link stood against the fall air and put his hands behind his back, rocked on his heels. "I, uhm," he said, moving slightly; Sheik moved closer as if to answer the bell's toll. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry- if you're mad at me..." Link paused, then laughed soberly. "I mean, I must sound like a huge douche- 'I'm sorry for I don't know what'- hah, I mean, but I don't mean it like that."

His eyes wandered along the stretches of street that surrounded them like a song. "I didn't mean to do anything jerky, is all. I don't think it's right to not apologize."

Sheik leaned, contrapose- gained some of the graffiti light, some of the vital carnival red, that Link recognized from before. "You didn't do anything wrong," he finally said. Warmth crept into his voice- glance like cinnamon, like sugar; his words had the slow ringing of alcohol. "Like I said- a good mood depends upon the stars; tonight it was one light out of time, it was two beats out of place...don't worry yourself."

Link wasn't sure what to think of that- it seemed true in one sense, but it seemed veiled, masked, in another sense. The words seemed to feel right, but there wasn't any logic to them...He looked back at Sheik and saw nothing but an offer- nothing out of order-, so he paused, nodded. "Okay, then. Cool.- Hey, let's go out tomorrow!"

Sheik laughed. "Of course- just mind the stories of the dark," he replied, with faultless rhythm.

Link agreed with a flash of the eyes- stepped forward to hug Sheik. What was to him just casual was a heart attack to Sheik; Sheik felt the warmth of Link's neck, the prison of his arms- felt like it would be right if it was just a _little_ tighter, if it meant more, if in this he could read the strength and the sadness. But Link just released him and smiled, waved; he turned around and headed past the azaleas to the door.

Sheik paused on air. His balance tilted strangely; his eyes were like a cat's as he watched Link move like music, move breathless and sunny. Pink morning sun was creeping into the rushing blue, light from the desert; it would rain tomorrow, probably. Sheik might not have had to courage to admit this hollow beating in his chest; but even so, a dark voice told him that it wasn't his choice at all. That he was really fucked _now_.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

And maybe he was; he counted by the signs that seemed to appear, by the luckless wind that seemed to rise up and cast him into some cruel spell. He asked a woman about the lines of his palm while she drew henna up his fingers- she only told him that she'd seen this day would come, and to watch out for his left side. And it choked him, made his blood constrict, that he knew exactly what she meant by "this day."

He felt alone; the lights were spinning up on the ceiling overhead, spilling primary colors down the floor. He moved past the crowd in the heat of music; spotted Raven by the bar. "Oh, hey," Raven said casually, tipping his glass a little bit as a greeting.

"Is Link here?" Sheik asked- posture of a refugee, onto the next road.

"No- that faggot said he hadda help with chores or sumthin' like that," Raven scoffed, finishing off his glass with a gator's bite. "He took the money and fuckin' _ran_ outta there. Dint even say goodbye or nuthin'. Some fuckin' manners."

Sheik nodded- or at least _seemed_ to nod, but his eyes were distant and full of a light that seemed nervous, that seemed to care...he suddenly wanted a cigarette, so he stumbled back outside.

These people were all strangers- they were all just murders waiting to happen, they were all bloodless, like lizards or like masks. Sheik slipped past them, slim and quiet, and moved outside- was he stumbling? He suddenly felt clumsy, he suddenly felt like he was blinded by a wave of colors that pulled a veil over his consciousness...A poignant feeling struck strong into his heart- as clear as scent flowering on cold air.

He looked at his palms, he saw nothing but empty space; saw nothing but his own face. Link wasn't here- was that good or was that bad? Pink descended down like honey lights- starry pink, cosmic and bold, that fell over his eyes, fell over his heart...some line of melody recalled the low way Link moved; his worried heart and his homeless eyes- his champagne laugh...

Link could cut between light and dark, resided in twilight- Sheik knew now what it was that Link carried on his shoulders. Link existed as the sole arbitrator between right and wrong- he walked the line and he didn't complain, but oh he was a lonely angel, he was a child of the street...his mouth was full of water and sweetness. Mind full of radiance, always stuck in in-betweens...

Sheik stood like he was at the mouth of some decision. Like there was only black space around him. How had this _happened_?- it was a horror and a thrill to spin down this lonely tunnel- to feel the light of Link beside him or miles away, to feel a sugar longing that lived solely in the night.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

_A/N_: Sheik's such a douchebag in this story, XD.

Thanks for reading! Come back for more!


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